Sharad Kumar Gauchan, the former president of Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal, was killed in the Capital last Monday. The government, however, has not been able to make any headway in arresting the four unidentified assailants that attacked him in broad daylight. This incident once again raised questions of security of businesspersons in the country. While organisations representing the private sector have said such incidents damage the already fragile investment climate in the country, contractors have also been heavily criticised for sheltering hoodlums and promoting hooliganism. Also, the working capacity and quality of works completed by Nepali contractors remains questionable. Sabin Mishra of The Himalayan Times caught up with Jaya Ram Lamichhane, former chairman of FCAN and chairman of Swachchhanda Nirman Sewa, to learn about the prospects and challenges facing Nepali contractors at present. Excerpts:

Last week, the former FCAN president was killed by an unidentified group. Private sector organisations have said such incidents damage the working environment in the country. Would you say that the government has been unable to give proper security to its citizens?

There is no easy answer to this question, although it is related to the contemporary situation. Some political parties have institutionalised kidnapping, donations and corruptions in Nepal. We have numerous examples of this between the periods of 1995 to 2006, when a few political parties kidnapped and killed a number of businesspersons only for their money. Currently, we can see that most of the political parties have given tickets to such ‘dons’ in their organisations and many of them have even been appointed to the post of ministers. So, political parties are the ones mainly responsible for promoting such horrible acts in the country. Until and unless the political parties distance themselves from such hooligans, the nation will continue to lose its citizens. Personally, I think Nepalis felt more secure during the panchayat system than they do now. The movement of 1990 also gave birth to unethical practices in the political parties.

But you too are active in politics and were vying to be a lawmaker in the last election. And your colleagues are ministers too. So, aren’t you contradicting yourself when you say that politics is destroying the entire business environment?

I decided to enter politics to bring about positive changes. Unfortunately, I was unable to get enough votes from the people. I wanted to dismiss the generalised notion that all politicians are corrupt. Perhaps I was unable to clearly communicate my vision to the voters. But the fact remains that honest and loyal people should enter politics to bring about the necessary changes.

Before introduction of e-bidding system, it was a well-known fact that contractors used to form cartels and seek support of gang members to obstruct competition from other bidders. Don’t you think the recent unfortunate incident was, in a way, the result of your own doing?

The first thing we need to realise is that anyone can become a contractor in Nepal after acquiring licence from the government. At the same time, somewhere along the way, profiteering by any means became a norm in this business, which in turn promoted the culture of extortion and hooliganism. We can find similar situations in most sectors of the society these days. I am not saying what is happening is right, but I think the culture of tolerating evil was borne out of necessity.

So, what do you think could be a way out of this predicament of ‘tolerating evil out of necessity’?

Political stability precedes everything else. Such problems cannot be eradicated when the political situation remains the same. Seven days have gone by since Gauchan was shot dead — that too in the heart of the Capital and in broad daylight. But the government has been unable to arrest the assailants yet. This has given us space to doubt the integrity of the police. I am not saying that contractors always abide by the rules and standards, but the role of the police who are investigating the murder can hardly be considered satisfactory.

So, are contractors facing even more critical situation due to the upcoming local level elections?

Yes, definitely. We have been receiving various kinds of threats from different groups. The group that claims to have killed Gauchan are threatening us. If the police administration were seriously investigating the murder, how would the group members be issuing threats to us? Businesspersons are getting calls from unidentified numbers, making various demands. The police inaction despite such a major incident happening recently is both alarming and appalling.

Nepali contractors are constructing large projects. But policymakers have time and again expressed concerns related to the quality of works. What is your say on this?

Contractors are a part of the society, just like the political parties. But unlike the political parties that feel no sense of responsibility towards the society, contractors are always striving to complete the tasks within the given deadline. Even so, the government has never tried to establish the contractors as an industry, and rather consider us as a profit-oriented group. Maybe it’s high time to change the preconceived notions about contractors and see us as an important contributors for the development of the country — not just by the political parties and the government, but by the media as well. While the contractors should mend their ways, other organs of the nation should also come to the right track. More importantly, I want to reiterate that we are not working just for the money. Our greater aim is to make meaningful contribution to the development of the country by building necessary infrastructure. For this, the contractors should complete the tasks assigned to them within the given deadline. At the same time, the government should also issue the contractor licence only to those companies that have the capital, technology, equipment and enough human resources to complete the task.

Your last comment seems directed at your colleagues in the industry. Aren’t you worried about the possible backlash?

I’ve always been raising this issue. When I say one needs to be financially sound, I don’t mean that they should have billions at their disposal. But the contractors should be mindful of their own capacity and only take on the assignments for which they are competent enough — both technically and financially. Basically what I mean to say is that the small contractors should not set their sights on mega projects that they would not be able to complete on time without cutting corners. Meanwhile, the government should also closely look at the calibre of the contractor in delivering quality outcome within the desired timeframe before awarding the contract.

A huge portion of the budget has been allocated to the local levels and the government is aiming to construct some mega projects in the country. Do you think Nepali contractors are competent enough to deliver the desired results?

If the priorities are set right, I think the local contractors are very much capable of delivering results. I’d like to present an example here; when the international airport was going to be constructed in Malaysia, their former PM Mahathir Mohamad declared that the task would be given to a domestic contractor. It was the first time in the country that a Malaysian contractor bagged the contract to build such a mega project. Of course, the contractor hired Japanese engineers and adopted German technology, but the main thing is that a local contractor was given the responsibility to build the airport and they managed to do it on time. We could also do the same. The only thing that I see lacking in Nepal is a visionary leadership to develop the nation. Contractors alone cannot be held responsible for developing the nation if it is not backed by effective initiatives of political leadership. A numbers of contractors are ready to construct mega projects in the country, but they are waiting for the proper environment and visionary leadership.