Poudel, who met the participants of an ongoing relay hunger strike at the entrance of Pokhara airport, said that the process of constructing the international airport will begin only when Nepal and China sign a new agreement. [break]
“As the existing agreement is not in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, the Pokhara international airport can´t be built just like this,” said Poudel, before returning to Kathmandu after attending a program in Myagdi. “Nepal and China should sign a new agreement to do away with legal flaws in the existing one.”
Poudel also assured the Pokhara residents that the government will finalize the draft of a new agreement with China at the earliest. “The new agreement´s draft has already been forwarded to the finance ministry,” he said. “I hope that the agreement will be signed soon.”
The Pokhara residents, who have been carrying out a series of protest programs to exert pressure on the government to expedite the international airport construction process, have been disappointed by Poudel´s remarks.
A local businessman, who took part in the ongoing relay hunger strike on Wednesday, said that the Pokhara residents are frustrated as no concerned authority - be it Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai or Chief Secretary Poudel - clearly spoke about initiating the airport construction process in Pokhara.
Nearly 40 years ago, the government had acquired 3,106 ropanis of land in Chhinedanda of Pokhara to build the country´s second international airport.
However, as the government backtracked from its plan to build the Pokhara international airport even after the completion of tender process, the local residents are up in arms. They say that the government start the airport construction process in Pokhara at the earliest.
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