KATHMANDU, July 19: The Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Devraj Ghimire, has shown concerns about the delays in the completion of the under-construction Parliament Building.

On July 17, at 4 PM, Speaker Ghimire paid a surprise visit to the construction site at Singha Durbar and found that work progress was sluggish. This was his fifth visit to the site.

Despite plans for the work to be done in three shifts over the past one and a half years, work is being done in only one shift. Although 82 percent progress is said to have been made, the structure does not confirm this.

Both the construction team and government officials have repeatedly cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason behind the delays.

To address this issue, Speaker Ghimire had scheduled a meeting today at 11AM at Singha Durbar with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakashman Singh, the Secretary of the ministry, the Director General of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, and the chief of the Parliament Building Construction Project, among other senior officials.