Not at all

The expectation that the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) would spread its wings with the acquisition of new and state of the art aircraft has been held in doldrums at the moment. This has come about because the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Legislative Parliament seems to think that the NAC deal for the purchase of two Airbus aircraft (a wide-bodied A330-200 plane and single aisle jet A320) is plagued with not following the right public procurement procedure and that an advance payment of about Rs. 57.3 million was made on its own. NAC management has been insisting that they had followed the purchase regulations that bind a state-owned entity. In this context, it may be worth remembering that NAC that had begun its life on a fine note has fallen into dire straits all because of the kick back game whenever the issue of purchasing a new aircraft came up in the past. There are many instances of graft that can be recounted which

all had taken place under the patronage of the then ministers concerned. It is, however, another

matter that no one accused was prosecuted and sentenced. This style of functioning that saw direct political interference in the NAC affairs has bogged down the national airlines to a pitiable state with the rather old airplanes to sustain itself. Those who illegally benefited, courtesy the NAC deals in the past, are nowhere in the picture now. All that has left NAC in a lurch with no assistance forthcoming from the respective governments to acquire additional aircraft. Every government in the past had pledged to help strengthen NAC’ fleet, but they remained plainly hollow.

The origin for the present uncertainty for NAC getting an aircraft was the Dubai Airshow in mid-November where the initial deal was made to acquire two aircraft. For this, the advance too had been made. But, being state owned, the NAC management were accountable to the government and the parliament. Now, the PAC had directed the NAC not to make any further moves regarding the purchase of the aircraft till all the issues involved were sorted out. The NAC is bound to follow the directive, but to revoke it, the management concerned will have to make the matters clear in that all the rules and regulation had been followed and transparency had been maintained. What may seem hard is that PAC has told NAC to scrap the deal which will not only be difficult but also a loss of face for the national flag carrier. And, to initiate the purchase process again will also be painful.

NAC is hard-pressed for the lack of aircraft for its foreign destinations that are necessary for the corporation not to see red. However, there have been accusations of the lackluster performance of its management and, hence, the demand for transparency and purchase rule adherence by the PAC. Moreover, with VNY 2011 round the corner the NAC will be almost a non-entity in the tourist generating market without the valuable addition to its fleet. Looking at the present scenario, the bold bid to purchase the airplanes is now in a limbo. It is high time that the ministries concerned looked beyond graft to prop up NAC to become a reliable Nepali carrier to be of first choice to prospective visitors to the country.

Bomb scare

Explosions of bombs and mines that have gone missing or were placed during the conflict period have been taking the lives of scores of innocent

people as well as maiming hundreds of others. The most recent tragic incident took place in Chitwan when bombs that had been lost were picked up by children, which exploded and killed three members of a family and injured three other critically Monday morning. This tragic incident should alert the concerned authorities about their responsibility of protecting the public from such bombs. The minefields should be cleared as soon as possible so that they do not pose a hazard to the public.

People should be warned of the risks of playing with suspicious objects for they could be bombs and doing so could be disastrous. Since it is mostly the children who tend to find such things and are curious, it is they who are most often the victims from such explosions. As such, the public and children in particular should be made aware about the hazards of playing with such objects. In case these objects are found they should be reported to the nearest security personnel who would know how to deal with them.