The post of the municipal chief has remained vacant after then executive officer of the municipality Yadunath Poudel was promoted and transferred to the Ministry of Land Reform and Management in March this year. Development projects worth millions of rupees have been affected due to absence of chief in Baglung municipality.[break]
While development project officer of the municipality Yukta Prasad Subedi has been appointed as the acting executive officer, he has not been authorized to handle financial activities.
“As a result, the municipality is unable fund development activities. Many of the projects have been stalled due to fund crunch,” said Subedi. Currently, as many as 110 projects are under way in the municipality but they have not been able to make any progress due to lack of funds. The municipality without its chief has not been able to release funds for the projects, said Subedi.
Likewise, many of the contractors, who have completed projects handed over to them, have not received their payments.
“We have completed our work as per the agreement. But the municipality office has not paid us as there is no chief in the municipal office,” said KB Rana Magar, a contractor.
Of the total Rs 55 million allocated for development projects in the district, the municipal office has released only Rs 15 million so far, said Trilochan Giri, an engineer at the municipality office.
The municipalities must spend at least 90 percent of the budget allocated for development projects. “If this amount is not spent within a fiscal year, the government may even cut budget allocation for the next year,” said Giri.
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