The Gautam Buddha International Airport – that is expected to play a major role in the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign – construction has been halted again, albeit this time due to lack of budget. After the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation could not pay the Chinese contractor, Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Company has halted construction work from today.
The contractor of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa – which has been facing endless delays since construction started in 2013 – has halted work complaining that it has not received its payment. According to Chinese contractor, the ministry still has to pay it around Rs 200 million.
As the CAAN has submitted documents to the ministry on April 19, the ministry was supposed to forward the details to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the documents have however stuck at the ministry. Officials at the CAAN, thus blamed Tourism Ministry as according to them the ministry has ‘intentionally’ delayed payment – by not forwarding paperwork of the national pride project to the Finance Ministry – that was supposed to release payment of around Rs200 million to Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group.
According to a source at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) – the project executing agency – the delayed payment could cause the government more loss as the contractor would claim compensation, if the payment is not released within two weeks.
Though the contractor will also not restart work until payment is made, Tourism Ministry has blamed the CAAN for not acting in time to get additional funding. But the budget approved by the project financer Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already been spent, the Tourism Ministry has requested the Finance Ministry to arrange financing from another source. ADB holds 62.6 per cent share of investment to upgrade the Gautam Buddha International Airport. The project has sought Rs 100 million in additional financing. The CAAN has asked for more money only on May 3.
CAAN has awarded the Rs 6.22 billion airport upgradation contract to Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in November 2013.
Of the total project cost, the ADB provided $58.50 million ($42.75 in loans and $15.75 million in grants) and the OPEC Fund for International Development provided a $15 million loan. The CAAN was supposed to bear the rest of the cost as counterpart funding.
The airport was initially slated to be ready in December 2017. The shortage of fuel and building material due to the months-long Tarai banda in 2015 delayed the upgradation work by six months, and its operation deadline was pushed back to June 2018. Around 300 workers are currently working on this project on a daily salary basis. In such a situation the contractor will be compelled to halt work, if it does not receive the budget on time.
Earlier too, a dispute over payment between the Chinese contractor and the Nepali sub-contractor, Northwest Infra Nepal, stalled work for more than six months. The project deadline has been extended many times after the initial extension. After the first phase of upgradation, the airport’s handling capacity will increase to 760,000 passengers annually and become Nepal’s second international airport. It will serve as an alternative to Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) during the emergencies.
The contractor of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa – which has been facing endless delays since construction started in 2013 – has halted work complaining that it has not received its payment. According to Chinese contractor, the ministry still has to pay it around Rs 200 million.
As the CAAN has submitted documents to the ministry on April 19, the ministry was supposed to forward the details to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the documents have however stuck at the ministry. Officials at the CAAN, thus blamed Tourism Ministry as according to them the ministry has ‘intentionally’ delayed payment – by not forwarding paperwork of the national pride project to the Finance Ministry – that was supposed to release payment of around Rs200 million to Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group.
According to a source at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) – the project executing agency – the delayed payment could cause the government more loss as the contractor would claim compensation, if the payment is not released within two weeks.
Though the contractor will also not restart work until payment is made, Tourism Ministry has blamed the CAAN for not acting in time to get additional funding. But the budget approved by the project financer Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already been spent, the Tourism Ministry has requested the Finance Ministry to arrange financing from another source. ADB holds 62.6 per cent share of investment to upgrade the Gautam Buddha International Airport. The project has sought Rs 100 million in additional financing. The CAAN has asked for more money only on May 3.
CAAN has awarded the Rs 6.22 billion airport upgradation contract to Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group in November 2013.
Of the total project cost, the ADB provided $58.50 million ($42.75 in loans and $15.75 million in grants) and the OPEC Fund for International Development provided a $15 million loan. The CAAN was supposed to bear the rest of the cost as counterpart funding.
The airport was initially slated to be ready in December 2017. The shortage of fuel and building material due to the months-long Tarai banda in 2015 delayed the upgradation work by six months, and its operation deadline was pushed back to June 2018. Around 300 workers are currently working on this project on a daily salary basis. In such a situation the contractor will be compelled to halt work, if it does not receive the budget on time.
Earlier too, a dispute over payment between the Chinese contractor and the Nepali sub-contractor, Northwest Infra Nepal, stalled work for more than six months. The project deadline has been extended many times after the initial extension. After the first phase of upgradation, the airport’s handling capacity will increase to 760,000 passengers annually and become Nepal’s second international airport. It will serve as an alternative to Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) during the emergencies.
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