NAWALPARASI: Three years have passed since China State Construction Engineering Corporation took charge of Butwal-Narayangadh road expansion.
The Corporation has made progress of mere 18 percent of the road expansion following extension of contract after the initial contract period ended.
On the one hand, the road expansion is sluggish, on the other, passengers are bearing the burnt of the dusty road stretch riddled with potholes. On top of it, the government has initiated the process of terminating the contract of road expansion with the Chinese company.
Supplier companies on Sunday staged a demonstration outside the office of the Chinese corporation entrusted with the expansion of the Butwal-Narayangadh road section, demanding to be paid over Rs 600 million promptly.
The supplier companies said they have not been paid for nine months and had resorted to strike.
They gathered outside the Chinese company’s office near Magarkot, Kawasoti Municipality-10, and held a sit-in from today. Agitating employees and owners of the supplier companies held banners written in both Nepali and Chinese languages.
Nirmal Sarawagi, the owner of Nepal Machinery EXIM in Birgunj, who participated in sit-in, said that they have yet to receive payment of over Rs 600 million.
Employees and representatives of the supplier companies complained that the Chinese construction company has not paid them for long despite them providing the contractor company with construction materials such as rods, cement, ballast, construction equipment, rollers, tippers and excavators, among others, at their demand request.
They said they have become unable to operate their companies and are facing problems such as paying bank loans, employee salary and not being able to pay the money to those companies from which they brought the goods.
Rhea Koirala, Head of Finance of Nepal Machinery Exim, said even in the past, they have heard of activities such as the Chinese company not paying its employees and deducting commission from the workers’ wages, among others.
The suppliers have demanded to being paid immediately and agreed to hold discussions with official representative of the Chinese contractor company in presence of the administration.
Nawalpur Chief District Officer Suman Ghimire said that he also received information about the matter and would immediately summon both sides for discussion.
The China State Construction Engineering Corporation won the bid for the Narayanghat-Butwal road expansion project in December 2018 and finally began work in 2019. The road project was initiated with Rs 17 billion loan assistance from the Asian Development Bank.
The project is being undertaken under two packages— Daunne-Gaindakot section in the east and Daunne-Butwal section in the west. Both the packages were awarded to the same company. The current two lane road was to be upgraded to six lane.
The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had laid the foundation stone for upgrading of the road in early 2019 after the Chinese firm was awarded the contract.
The Chinese firm is being lashed due to its negligence to complete the road project on time as it has just made progress of 18 percent till date.
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