NAWALPUR: Prime Minister KP Oli laid the foundation stone of the Butwal-Narayanghat road expansion from Butwal two years ago.
However, the contractor company “China State Engineering Corporation” has been dillydallying the up-gradation of the road under various pretexts.
The road is being upgraded with the loan assistance of the Asian Development Bank. According to Project Chief Ramesh Chandra Dishti, the road has seen the progress of only 4 percent in the last two years. As per the agreement, the project should be have been completed within 18 months.
However, if the current progress of the work is to be analyzed, the work will not be completed within the stipulated time.
The work was suspended for six months due to the coronavirus pandemic last year. Disthi said that all technical problems have been resolved even though the work of felling down trees and removing electricity poles was delayed due to disagreement of the Chinese contractor.
“Even though the technical complexities are being addressed, unfortunately, minor glitches have been obstructing the work,” he added.
The workers have been agitated since the contractor denied to pay them even though the construction work resumed after six months of the lockdown. The workers, however, returned to work after a written agreement was signed with the contractor.
The problem did not end here as the workers halted their work again after the contractor did not comply with the agreement because of which the up-gradation work of the road was obstructed for the third time. According to Basudev Gaire, President of the Federation of the All Nepal Trade Union, the contractor company asked the workers to go on a 15-day leave.
Salary deduction every month
Even though the row ended after the company agreed to give the salary to the workers, the workers are yet to get their full salary. The workers have alleged the contractor company of deducting Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 every month from their salary. Instead, the contractor has alleged the workers for non-cooperation. The Chinese contractor has been raising the issue of a worker who was found to be stealing oil, Gaire said. While one was arrested, eight others were accused of their involvement.
The Chinese company has insisted that the workers have been creating unnecessary obstruction even after the administration has given the contractor company to suspend those workers alleged of theft.
Workers thrashed in the pretext of talks
The contractor company on Wednesday called the workers to the company’s office at Devachuli-16, Razahar to settle the dispute over the oil theft.
However, despite settling the issue, the contractors thrashed the workers at around 2:45 pm on Wednesday, according to Gaire. Hari Prasad Gautam, a local, said that some Chinese people (not from the company) came to the office carrying iron rods and thrashed the Nepali workers.
Meanwhile, the workers stopped the vehicle of Bhumi Nanda Dhakal, the coordinator of the company, coming to the office to settle the issue outside the gate.
After the incident, both the Chinese side and the workers have lodged separate complaints at the District Police Office. The Chinese side has complained that the workers attacked them. Meanwhile, the workers have also filed a complaint at the District Police Office against the company on Thursday.
According to District Police Chief SP Prakash Malla, the incident was being investigated on the basis of the complaints from both sides.
The Chinese company was awarded the contract to construct the 113-kilometer road — the first section of the Gaindakot-Daunne 65-km under the Butwal-Narayanghat road, and the second section 48-kilometer Daunne-Butwal.
The Chinese company has been criticized for not paying attention to the dilapidated road in the Daunne area. Chief District Officer of Nawalpur, Man Maya Pangeni Bhattarai said that the company has agreed to complete the work within the next 40 days.
The agreement has stipulated that the road would be upgraded in three and a half years at a cost of Rs 15 billion. The road will be extended to 6 lanes in the urban areas, 4 lanes in the forest area, and three lanes in the Daunne section.
Glaring instance of Chinese atrocities
It should be recalled that the locals had on March 20, 2020, protested against the government’s lockdown when some Chinese nationals tried to smuggle goods through the under-construction Nyadi Hydropower at Marsyangdi Rural Municipality-6 of Thulobensi in Lamjung district.
The Chinese had even resorted to attacks with Khukuries on the locals when asked not to transport goods during the lockdown. Police had even arrested some Chinese nationals for their actions. However, instead of bringing them under the ambit of law, they were reconciled.
Earlier, a group of Chinese armed with swords and home-made weapons had attacked a Nepali taxi driver in Kathmandu’s Jyata on March 12, 2020.
The police did not take any stern action against the Chinese despite taking control of them. The police administration has failed to take stern action even though they have been repeatedly assaulting Nepali citizens.
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