It also replied to the CTGC´s letter asking the ministry to clarify its position about the project and sent the signed MoU to the probe committee as per its demand on Tuesday, according to spokesperson and joint secretary at the ministry Arjun Karki. [break]
“We received the MoU on Tuesday and are studying and I have been told that the response letter has also arrived late Wednesday afternoon,” acknowledged lawmaker Laxman Ghimire who is an invited member on the probe committee. “We will study the response and submit our report soon,” Ghimire added.
Parliamentary committee formed the probe committee on March 9 after a majority of the lawmakers who attended the meeting that day raised doubts about the manner in which the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed. The MoU was signed with CTGC on Feb 29 after revoking the MOE working procedure of opting for competitive bidding on the same day.
The initial deadline of March 19 for the committee to submit its findings has been was extended to May 28 after the committee said it needed more time to investigate the matter and take suggestions.
Meanwhile, the MOE in its letter to CTGC has assured that the project will go ahead as planned. “We have written that it is a regular parliamentary process about a project of national importance and that we will get to them as soon as we receive another directive,” said Karki, who had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Executive Vice-chairman of CTGC Wang Shofeng on February 29.
CTGC had written to MOE last week informing that it had readied a team to visit Nepal after signing the MoU and that it cannot keep the team waiting for long.
The Chinese company, according to Karki, had also stated that it could leave the agreement if Nepal so wishes.
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