Urban Dev Ministry under PAC scrutiny

KATHMANDU, June 18: "We couldn't record in writing the distribution of all tents and tarpaulins to individuals and those living under various make-shift shelters as it was all done in haste as per the directions of the honorable secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, who was also a member of the Central Disaster Relief Committee, and the situation at the time was very difficult due to the crowds, the erratic power cuts, rain, storms and aftershocks."

This is one of the reasons furnished by the Ministry of Urban Development in reply to questioning by parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about the status of 3,199 tarpaulins and tents that were found missing when the ministry distributed emergency relief goods to earthquake victims right after the April 25 earthquake.Following strong objections from lawmakers over the missing records, the committee decided to summon the minister for urban development and the ministry secretary.

On the same sheet of paper submitted to the parliamentary committee, the ministry makes a vague claim that those tents and tarpaulins were distributed among ministers, lawmakers, secretaries, journalists, employees of various government bodies, security personnel inside Singha Durbar premises, non-government organizations and members of the public, but there are no specific details.

Similarly, the ministry also maintained that some earthquake victims even took a few of the tents and tarpaulins by force. The lawmakers on the committee, however, smell a rat.

Following the cabinet meeting on April 25 that directed the ministry to immediately supply tents and tarpaulins to the quake victims in the 14 most-affected districts, the ministry had purchased 27,709 tents the next day in a first phase. But 3,199 of these tents were distributed carelessly, without keeping any records. An additional 2,332 tents and tarpaulins were distributed to various non-government organizations and individuals, according to the list furnished by the ministry.

Lawmakers at the meeting accused the ministry of trying to cover up the irregularities during distribution.

"The way tents and tarpaulins have been distributed by the ministry is open to question. There is no record of 3,319 tents. This is the height of negligence. The committee should immediately form a special probe to look into the matter and recommend action against officials involved in any irregularities," said Ram Hari Khatiwada, a lawmaker.

Dhan Raj Gurung, another lawmaker, criticized the authorities for not keeping detailed records of the ministers, lawmakers and government officials who had been distributed the tents and tarpaulins. "By lumping together the lawmakers and ministers who took the tents, the ministry is just trying to put all the lawmakers in the same bracket. This is not fair to those who have not received a single tent," he added.

Related story

Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Urban Development in Nepal