Punish guilty NAC staff

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against Executive Chairman of the state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Sugat Ratna Kansakar and five other high-ranking officials at the Special Court accusing them of financial irregularities in an Airbus deal. The CIAA’s charge sheet says Kansakar paid the non-refundable commitment sum of Rs 57.3 million without approval of the NAC board of directors and also without making arrangements to finance the deal worth over Rs 10 billion.



NAC had decided to buy a wide-body Airbus A330-200 and a narrow-body A320-200 on Oct 26, 2009 without inviting bids as required by the Public Procurement Act 2007. NAC was planning to procure the aircraft by taking Rs 10 billion in loan from the Employees Provident Fund, which had set government guarantee as pre-condition for issuing loan.



The government had yet to agree to be guarantor but Kansakar hurriedly forwarded the lock-up money worth $750,000 to the France-based aircraft manufacturers on Nov 7, 2009 showing utter disregard for law. He even had the temerity to say that the government was trapped into buying the aircraft from the company after he arbitrarily sent the commitment amount without knowledge of anybody else. It is commendable that the CIAA has filed the charge sheet demanding repayment of the commitment amount along with interest from Kansakar. But CIAA has not shown guts to present the six NAC officials to the Special Court at the time of filing the case as required by the law. It is baffling how persons freely roaming in Kathmandu have been termed absconding and we urge the authorities to make sure that the six are present at court at the time of hearing.



There is a huge market for international flights in Nepal with over 2 million Nepalis working abroad and the upcoming Nepal Tourism Year 2011. Around 30 international airline companies are currently plying for trade in Nepal yet the national flag carrier has been making losses. It just has one functional Boeing for international flights at present with another being sent for repair. It, no doubt, requires more aircraft to tap in the huge market but no number of aircraft can change its fortune with its present style of functioning.



NAC remains one of the most corrupt institutions in Nepal with successive governments milking it for personal gains. It has been embroiled in numerous controversies like Dhamija scandal, Chase Air controversy, and Lauda Air deal among others. The government should either make complete reform in its structure or should go for privatization before spending in new aircraft.

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