Price hike the only way

This refers to the edit page article “The Oil Crisis” (THT, Oct. 1). Raghav D Pant,

instead of suggesting new ways to solve the fuel crisis, has concentrated on the poor performance of the Finance Minister. Changing ministers will not solve the fuel crisis. If reducing the tax by Rs. 3.50 was the only solution, the situation would not be so bleak. In the end, there is no alternative to paying the price fixed by the international market.

Dorji Tsering Sherpa,

Galfutar, Kathmandu

Clarification

This is in reference to the edit page article “Honeybees in the Himalayas” (THT, Sept. 26). Although Bihari Krishna Shrestha has quoted the facts and figures on the project that ICIMOD has supported, we would like to clarify ICIMOD’s mandate and functions. As per ICIMOD’s statute approved by its eight member countries including Nepal, the Centre is expected to serve: a) as a multi-disciplinary documentation centre; b) as a focal point for training and applied research activities; and c) as a consultative centre in scientific and technical

matters for all the countries.

Also, ICIMOD is not a development agency but a Regional Knowledge and Learning Centre. The Honeybee project supported by the Austrian government is a pilot programme

operating in five countries. Like in Kavre, the project has trained poor, landless and women farmers in selected villages, including Jumla, Kaski and Dadeldhura. The number of beekeepers and beekeeper groups, amount of honey harvested per colony per year and the

income of beekeepers have all increased significantly due to project interventions at all sites in Nepal. Shrestha is welcome to discuss with ICIMOD and assess the data from the four sites in Nepal and other countries that are readily available with us. We would also appreciate if Shrestha and your paper could help spread the message to the government and other bilateral donors to upscale and mainstream the successful pilot project on honeybees in Nepal, which would address some of the issues raised by the author.

Madhav Karki,

Deputy Director General - Programmes, ICIMOD, Khumaltar, Lalitpur

Keep it up

Though Nepal Police has earned a bad reputation, the arrest of those responsible for bomb blasts in the capital shows that the police force is not as hopeless as it was thought to be. Indeed, with a bit of determination, Nepal Police can do so much to make the country more secure.

Dwaipayan Regmi,

Biratnagar

Correction

This refers to the news brief “Martin’s take” (THT, Oct. 1). Ian Martin, the head of the UN mission in Nepal, during the Mini Youth Constituent Assembly (MYCA) organised by the

Alliance for Peace (AfP) at Nagarkot, has been quoted as saying “regressive forces have been creating chaos by taking undue advantage of the diverse culture of the nation, and Kapilvastu

incident was the conspiracy of those regressive forces.” However, AfP would like to clarify that Martin made no such statement. I learn that you got an AfP press release in Nepali that had translated Martin’s words incorrectly. I take the responsibility for my staff sending you a

misquoted press release.

Dipendra Tamang, Director, Alliance for Peace