• SOS Children’s Villages Nepal is building 108 cemented houses

Dolakha, September 1 A non-government organisation has been building houses for the 2015 earthquake victims at Jhiganetol of Bhimeshwor Municipality in Dolakha without letting locals know the construction cost. SOS Children’s Villages Nepal is currently constructing 108 two-roomed cemented houses in the area, keeping the villagers in the dark about the cost involved. Rabindra Khadka, an engineer from the NGO, also expressed ignorance about the construction cost. “The houses are being constructed as per the standards laid out by the government. But frequent changes in design of the houses have made it difficult to predict the cost,” Khadka said. Locals accused the NGO of financial irregularities in procuring construction materials as no tender was issued for that. They said the NGO might have been constructing two-roomed houses in place of four-roomed ones, as planned earlier, due to financial irregularities on the builder’s part. Despite repeated attempts, SOS CVN Director Ishwori Prasad Sharma could not be contacted for comments. Meanwhile, National Reconstruction Authority’s Dolakha District Coordination Committee Secretariat Chief Sagar Acharya said locals should be informed about the cost involved.”We will take action against SOS Children’s Villages Nepal if it did not inform the locals about the cost involved in the construction of their houses,” Acharya said.