Siraha, September 17 :

No tax is being collected in the district as the Siraha District Development Committee (DDC) failed to manage a new contractor. Declaring a halt to collection all kinds of taxes until the formation of a CPN-Maoist-included interim government, the Siraha CPN-Maoist has ordered the DDC and local agencies not to collect any tax.

The DDC floated tenders thrice for bidders take the contract of collecting different kinds of taxes in the district, but no bids were submitted due to the Maoists’ pressure. The Maoists had been collecting taxes through their own contractors since July 17. They have stopped doing so since last week.

Local Development Officer (LDO), Kedarnath Sharma said a new tender would be floated following the suggestions of and agreement with district-based political leaders. This time the DDC will call tender after discussing at the central level too, the LDO said. “If local taxes are not collected, it becomes difficult to provide salary to 40 workers,” he aid.

Chairman of the Lahan Chambers of Commerce, Niras Chaudhari said local entrepreneurs are not paying local taxes since the past week. However, an unidentified group is collecting tax from entrepreneurs in the Dhurmi area.