Govt positive to address contractors’ demand

Kathmandu, Nov. 24

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Basanta Kumar Nembang said on Tuesday that the government was positive about addressing the demands and concerns of contractors.

He said that his ministry was discussing the issue of term extension for the contractors with the Ministry of Finance and soon it would be decided.

Regardig the issues of returning the deposit money and issuing protocols for the COVID-19 situation would also be decided after consultation with other stakeholers like the National Planning Commission and line ministries, he said in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN) led by its President Rabi Singh.

The delegation had met the minister to urge him to create a favourable environment for the construction work with the beginning of the seasion of development work.

The FCAN updated Minister Nembang that the months-long lockdown had adversely impacted the development and construction work while there was uncertainty about resuming the work after the festival season.

The entrepreneurs are facing liquidity crisis since there was no work but they had to pay the house rent, bank loan and salary to the staff.

"In order to make the sector resume the regular construction activities and revitalise the economic activities, the government should return the retention money paid to the government as deposit," said Singh.

The construction companies deposit about 5 per cent of the project cost with the government. Saying that the money was remaining idle in state coffers, the contractors want it back on the basis of bank guarantee.

According to Singh, if the deposit is given back to the contractors, it would increase he liquidity situation in the industry and they can resume work at various projects where construction is halted as they face the shortage of about Rs. 65 billion.

In that case, construction would be expedited, projects would be completed in time, construction industry would be revitalized and country’s economy would see a growth, he said.

Similarly, the FCAN demanded to create an integrated health safety protocols against COVID-19 since multiple protocols by the public agencies had created confusion.

It demanded to create a uniform policy for the safety from the pandemic and suggested to include some overhead cost for the implementation of such guidelines.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 November 2020.