Even as earthquake victims in the hardest hit districts are struggling to get basic relief assistance, reports of misuse and poor record keeping of relief materials have been unfolding one after another. This only exposes the Koirala government's weaknesses and sends troubling message to the international community about our opaque relief aid management system. The Ministry of Home Affairs had no record of five million kilograms of rice sent to Nepal by the government of Bangladesh—Bangladesh had sent 10 million kgs of rice for earthquake victims, government records showed only five million. It was only after Nagarik daily drew public attention that government authority furnished the details of missing rice. It is not long since the allegations of Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat's personal assistant, Ramesh Mahat, trying to sell off zinc sheets meant for the victims, made headlines. Little is known about the ongoing investigation of the case. The National Vigilance Center report confirms embezzlement in purchase of tarpaulins by the Ministry of Urban Development. And here comes yet another troubling news. About 57,000 blankets sent by Bangladesh have mysteriously gone missing. The Ministry of Home Affairs has record of only 2,478 such blankets. It has no record of blankets sent by other countries. Where are those goods?The Embassy of Bangladesh in Kathmandu confirmed that 60, 000 blankets were sent to Nepal. The Nepal Army claims it received and entrusted them to MoHA. There could be three possibilities here. One, they are still under MoHA authority but officials failed to keep the records. Given our sluggish bureaucracy, such lapses could have happened. In that case, the home ministry should show where they actually are. It is also possible that warm blankets have been sold to businessmen for commissions. Large quantity of tarpaulins was recovered from go-downs of traders in Kathmandu. Yet another possibility is CA members took control of these materials to distribute to their voters. We would be too happy to be proven wrong on all such speculations. But in any case, it only proves height of negligence of the government authorities in storing and managing and distributing the relief materials to the neediest. Such irregularities must be checked and those involved brought to book immediately. Not doing so will cost us dearly.
Lack of trust on government by donors and the general public need not be emphasized. The Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund received much less than expected from the donor agencies. Apparently, they were too reluctant to support the government fund, fearing lack of transparency and potential misuse. The government enforced 'one-door policy' to channelize aid through government mechanisms. This did not help much. Maintaining transparency at this hour is crucial because we are forming a Reconstruction Fund to raise funds for reconstruction, which will cost us billions. Clearly, we won't be able to manage resources for this huge undertaking without foreign assistance. We are set to convene a Donor's Conference on June 25 to raise funds for the reconstruction. In this context, we must make relief distribution fair and transparent and ensure the world community that every single penny of their aid goes to the real victims. It bears reminding that Prime Minister Sushil Koirala had vowed to take stringent action against officials and ministers involved in any sort of wrongdoing. It's time for him to prove he is serious.
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