Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 2:

Inaugurating the fifth and sixth annual general meeting of Federation of Nepalese Contractors Association (FNCA), Prakash Man Singh, minister for physical planning and works said that peace is vital for development activities.

“For the execution and prevention of already introduced projects and to initiate other sustainable development projects, peace is a must,” minister Singh said.

The hospitals, schools, roads and bridges are being destroyed. And every strata of the society should actively participate to restore peace in the country,” he added.

He said that the government is going through the due payment of the contractors. Singh urged them to practice legal and good working procedures. Sukunata Lal Hirachan,president of FNCA said that the development works couldn’t gain momentum due to the ongoing conflict. “The government has not paid millions of rupees to the contractors despite the works being completed on time. This has hampered the works of many builders,” Hirachan said. Jip Chiring Lama, former president of FNCA stressed on the need to ratifying financial administration regulations to make tender decisions more transparent and quick. Purna Bahadur Tamang, president of Kathmandu Valley Contractors Association (KVCA) asked the government to grant the due payment of the works done during the 11th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu. The government has not provided the amount till date, which has discouraged the contractors, he added.

Various speakers speaking at the programme stressed on the need of capacity building of the associations. Nepal, now is a part of global market and Nepali contractors should boost their capacity to compete with the international builders, they said.