KATHMANDU, Dec 1: Even as two parliamentary committees are fighting over jursisdiction on whether to immediately shut down the resorts inside Chitwan National Park (CNP), the cabinet has decided to allow the seven hotels to operate for another three years.[break]
In doing so, the government on Tuesday cited the tourism campaign to attract more tourists in 2011 Visit Nepal Year.
The 15-year contract of the total seven hotels operating inside CNP expired on July 15.
Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel told mediapersons that the resorts, however, need to clear taxes and other fees that they owe the government. "Following a long debate the government has decided to extend the terms of hotels inside Chitwan National Park for three years," he further said after the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister´s Office in Singha Durbar.
Amidst continuing debate whether to extend the term of the resorts, the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had recently suggested to the government to extend the terms of hotels for next three years in view of the Visit Nepal Year.
However, another parliamentary body -- Natural Resources and Means Committee (NRMC) -- challenged the PAC decision, arguing that it had no jurisdiction over the issue. The NRMC had directed the government not to arrive at any decision before it took the final decision, after initially ruling that the resorts needed to be shut down immediately. However, the NRMC members were later divided over the matter, delaying their "final" recommendation.
"The government is the actual executive and the decision was imperative as it would have hampered the Visit Nepal Year plans," Tourism Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari told Republica after the cabinet decision. "The Natural Resources and Means Committee too was divided over the issue. No parliamentary committee can act as executive body."
In another decision, the cabinet also decided to waive interest of the loans taken by the families hit by Maoist conflict.
The cabinet also approved deputing Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Arjun Jung Shahi to the UN Mission in Darfur in Sudan and appointed Babu Lal Prasad Sah as the Director General of Nepal Drug Limited.
Similarly, the cabinet promoted Lieutenant Colonel Dr Gopal Maharjan to Colonel (technical) and Colonel Taj Man Singh Basnet to Brigadier General. Basnet will take the charge of No 11 Brigade (Army Aviation).
Meanwhile, the cabinet also decided to extend the tenure of the Peace Fund for next three years. The government in February 2007 established the Peace Fund as a mechanism for interested donors to contribute to the peace process through direct contributions to the government.