Curbing corruption

The front-page photograph showing the arrest of former minister Prakash Man Singh published in THT on April 22 caught my attention. Those politicians who have been charged under corruption cases do have the right to prove themselves not guilty before the court, but they should not avoid their duty to cooperate with investigators. The newly formed Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC) is actively involved in control of bribery. The people should support and cooperate with the Commission to help it achieve its goal. All those who are issued summons by the RCCC should oblige. Moreover, people support the Commission’s investigation of corruption and embezzlement in the Melamchi drinking water

project and misappropriation of funds from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. It is the right of the people to know why the then Deuba cabinet handed the project to the Chinese company (CCECC) and Sharma & Lama jointly for Rs 96 crore by dissolving its former contract with Hanel Kaneko, concluded at Rs 45 crore. Singh along with his supporters who were shouting slogans against RCCC at the time of his arrest seem to be involved indirectly in this embezzlement. If NC-D leaders refuse to comply with the RCCC, it will cast a doubt over the party’s credibility in the eyes of the people. Also, the Supreme Court should soon make clear the dispute regarding the constitutionality of RCCC that is often raised nowadays.

Bimal and Umesh, Dhangadhi, Kailali

Water supply

The problem of water scarcity in Kathmandu is worsening each day. People do not get even minimum supply of water for daily use. On the other hand, there is no definite time and interval for the supply of water. It comes regularly on some days while on others, it comes only after a week. That has been forcing the people to allocate one person from each household just to wait for the water. Some people keep the taps open throughout the day and night. To top it all, the supplied water is unfit to drink. This problem is due to leakage of sewage into water pipes. The Water Supply Corporation should solve this problem soon. They should also fix a definite time and interval for the supply of water so that water is not wasted.

Swastiek Bajracharya, via e-mail

HIV/AIDS

The news “Scientists find new way to fight HIV infection” published in THT on April 20 was interesting. Science has been helping a lot of people find new ways to fight this and other ghastly diseases. But when will a developing country like Nepal be able to access those new ways?

Despite many national and international organisations working in this field, there has been a huge increase in the number of HIV/AIDS patients in Nepal compared to previous years. Numerous anti-HIV/AIDS programmes are conducted but the success has been mixed. One reason for this is that those programmes do not have wide bases to include the rural poor. At a time when the world is talking about new scientific measures to fight HIV, our programmes are limited to raising awareness only. Second reason is people’s hesitation to talk openly about sexually transmitted diseases. In the 21st century there is no option but to deal with this problem, as AIDS epidemic is a harsh reality. We should address the causes leading to HIV virus and the public and private sectors should join hands to solve this problem.

Shreejana Rayamajhi, Kathmandu