Pappu construction head faces arrest

Kathmandu, September 25

In a case related to the death of five people after a boat capsized in the Lal Bakaiya River on August 25, Rautahat District Court today issued a notice to Nepal Police asking it to arrest Sumeet Rauniyar, the chairman of Pappu Construction, for further investigation.

The order was issued after Rauniyar failed to present himself in the court for a hearing.

Following the boat capsize, locals had filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Rautahat, demanding action against Pappu Construction for not completing construction of a bridge over the river. The bridge was scheduled to have been completed last year. Locals reiterated that had the bridge been built people would not have taken the perilous boat journey and precious lives would have been saved. The Division of Bridges under the Department of Roads, has stated that Pappu Construction has completed only 10 per cent of the bridge. As per the contract agreement signed in 2015, bridge construction should have been completed in June 2017.

According to DoR, Pappu Construction has won 40 construction contracts worth nearly Rs 10 billion since 2014. Of the 40 projects, 35 are bridges while the rest are road projects.

Apparently, of the 35 bridges, construction deadline has been crossed for 24 bridges while there has been no progress on 11 bridges. Of all the contracts won by Pappu Construction, an average of only 10.04 per cent of construction work has been completed till date, states DoR.

Among other bids, Pappu Construction has also received the contract to build the Beni-Jomsom and Jatahei-Janakpur-Dhalkebar roads and expand the Birgunj-Pathlaiya road.

“There have been irregularities during the monitoring and observation of the projects and it looks like there is a nexus between government engineers and contractors,” said Rajendra Raj Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. “It is time we revise the monitoring mechanism and make it more efficient and effective.”

Speaking at the Finance Committee meeting of the Parliament today, lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) criticised the government for awarding more infrastructure projects to Pappu Construction though the company had not been completing its work.

Lawmakers Ram Kumari Jhakri and Kumari Tulsi Thapa of the NCP criticised the government for awarding a contract worth Rs 2.06 billion on Sunday to Pappu Construction to construct a building of Nepal Rastra Bank. They urged the government to rethink its decision.

Lawmakers said having lawmakers, who were also contractors, in the Development and Technology Committee of the House had created a conflict of interest. Lawmakers Hari Narayan Prasad Rauniyar, Bahadur Singh Lama and Jip Chhiring Lama are in the panel despite being contractors. Rauniyar is from the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal, which has two ministers in the Cabinet. Apparently, Rauniyar is also the managing director of Pappu Construction. Both Bahadur and Jip belong to the Nepali Congress.

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