LETTERS
Who is to blame?
This is in reference to the news section “What’s broken” (THT, Oct 22).
First of all, I would like to thank THT for drawing the attention of Sunil Poudyal, senior engineer at the Division Road Office, Kathmandu. I’m pleased that Poudyal has assured the people that “the road shall be maintained as soon as the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) maintains the water pipes”. But I would like to add that the road ahead to Boudha and to Jorpati is in a far worse condition, as it has not been maintained for years.
The roads in other areas of the capital are in no better state.
The question is, Why has it been taking so long for the water office to complete its job? It is quite possible that Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited does not have enough funds.
The authorities need to take this matter seriously and start maintenance work immediately.
Oj Man Singh Shrestha, Jorpati, Kathmandu.
Way out
Prime Minister Prachanda had said that an army of 20,000 fighters would be sufficient for Nepal. I believe that many Nepalis will agree with him on that matter. At present there are about 100,000 personnel in the Nepal Army and 20,000 fighters in the People’s Liberation Army. I think it would be better to adjust a majority of the soldiers of the Nepal Army and the People’s Liberation Army into non-combatant regiments that are especially trained for rescue
operations. These non-combatant regiments should be mobilised in construction work and
industrial operations.
In accordance with the inclusive requirement of the constitution, out of a total of 20,000 Maoist combatants, 4,000 should be reserved for the “Tharu regiments’, another 4,000 for the non-Tharu Madhesi regiments, 2,000 for the “Magar regiments”, 1,000 each for the Newar and Tamang regiments. Other regiments should also match the ethnic composition of the country. All these regiments should be stationed in their own respective geographical
locations of the country.
V P Sayami, Kathmandu
Emulate
At a time when almost all the financial capitals of the world like New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Beijing are suffering from the impact of global recession, it is reported that Singapore
remains unaffected. This seems to be the result of an effective economic system of the republic.
It might be a good idea to emulate certain provisions of the Constitution of Singapore that pertains to economic management.
Daman Nath Dhungana, a civil society leader, pointed out, during a recent radio interview, the absence of non-political experts in the constitution drafting committee. It seems all the citizens’ forums and human rights activists should urgently come together and draft a constitution that guarantees the universal declarations of human rights, plus liberal
unemployment benefits, efficient economic management system, guarantee of employment, sanctity of private property, restrictions on personal weapons, compensation for injustice meted out to individuals and an environment of harmony and peace among the various ethnic
communities.
R Manandhar, Kathmandu