Himalayan News Service

Pokhara, March 22:

The Pokhara valley town development committee and tourism entrepreneurs are engaged in a bitter row ever since the former appointed a contractor to levy a charge of Rs 50 to each tourist bus entering the tourist bus park in Pokhara. Protesting the provision, the entrepreneurs picked up the tourists and dropped them on the road for three days. The bus park was used yesterday and today only after the contractor agreed not to collect tax till another provision was made. While the chairman of the town development committee, Bishnu Prasad Banstola, said the decision to levy tax remained unchanged, the tourism entrepreneurs reiterated that they were not going to pay the tax. They accused the committee of imposing tax at a time when tourism is on the decline.

“The provision is unacceptable,” Hari Sharma, president of the Nepal Tours and Travels Association, said, adding that it was inappropriate to collect money without setting up infrastructure. Safety of buses parked in the bus park should be guaranteed, a well-equipped waiting room should be constructed and the right to collect tax should rest on the authorities concerned only, he said, adding that it was the duty of the town development committee to develop the bus park. Banstola said the tax was raised to manage the bus park. The tourist bus park was made available by the Pokhara valley town development committee in 1998, the Visit Nepal year, the committee said. Since then, the tourism entrepreneurs have been using the bus park without paying taxes, Banstola said.