KATHMANDU, Nov 7: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has claimed that there were financial irregularities in the construction of Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA) and seized all the documents of the project. The CIAA took control of the document on October 29. "Documents have been taken under control for necessary investigation on issues such as doubling the cost of the airport construction and manipulating the contract process for construction," said the source of CIAA.
The Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradeep Adhikari, had received many complaints at the CIAA alleging that he helped to increase the cost of PRIA and that the construction work of the airport was of poor quality. He is also accused of colluding with the construction company to serve vested interests. In order to investigate the complaint, the anti-graft body raided the PRIA construction project on October 29 right after Dashain. According to CIAA sources, the documents were seized after several complaints were received by the CIAA.
According to sources, the bank accounts of some project employees have been frozen. However, no details regarding the identities of these employees have been disclosed. "Not only have substandard materials been used in the construction of the PRIA, but the state has also suffered millions worth losses by setting the tender process. The CIAA has started an investigation on the same matter," the source said, "An investigation has been started. It is not possible to say how long it will take to complete the investigation. The CIAA took the technical team and seized the documents. Binesh Munkarmi is currently the chief of the Pokhara airport construction project.
CIAA raids CAAN office, seizes ‘important’ documents
The cost of PRIA, which was initially estimated to be completed at Rs 12 billion, was later increased. At that time, the airport project chief was Pradeep Adhikari who is currently the Director General of CAAN. Sources said that the official increased the cost from Rs 12 billion to Rs 24 billion. Although three international and eight domestic flights can be parked in the airport built with the loan assistance of China's Export and Import (EXIN) Bank, no international flights have been made so far.
The CIAA complained that the cost estimate of PRIA, which was built at a cost of Rs 24 billion with Exim Bank's Rs 22 billion at 2 percent interest and Rs 2 billion as a subsidy, was increased disproportionately.
The then Chief Project Officer gave the contract to the Chinese company CAMC Engineering Company in setting the contract for PRIA. Sources claim that he has also arranged a deal to place Nepali contractor Kshamadevi Construction in a Joint Venture (JV) with CAMC Engineering Company. The concessional loan taken by the government from Exim Bank was taken by the government at an interest rate of 5 percent. An agreement was reached between the government and the CAAN on June 5, 2016 after receiving a concessional loan of Rs 22 billion from China at an interest rate of 2 percent. It is mentioned that the loan received by the government will be paid by the CAAN at the rate of 2 percent for seven years after construction is completed. After seven years, it is mentioned in the agreement that the principal will be paid in 26 installments in 13 years. Allegations of corruption have arisen due to the significant financial expenditure on airport construction.
The construction was completed and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated it on January 1. After the inauguration, a plane arrived from Bhutan. Bhutan's Royal Bhutan Airlines Druk Air made its first commercial flight at PRIA. The plane came from Paro International Airport in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, with crew members and three passengers and returned from Nepal with 42 people. Before that, Chinese Sichuan Airlines operated a chartered flight from PRIA.
