Political patronage encouraging corruption: CIAA

“Political patronage has increased rampant corruption in the local levels,” according to the anti-graft watch dog.
Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) – issuing a report today – revealed that no action against the corrupt due to political patronage has helped increase the corruption. The CIAA has surveyed on 3,000 people of 15 districts in the 7 provinces to find out the root cause of corruption.
“Of the total respondent, some 71.5 per cent opines that non action has increased the corruption, whereas some 37.2 per cent suggests political patronage, and some 36.8 per cent believes that expensive electoral system has led to the corruption,” the survey revealed, adding that corruption starts from the level of programme planning to implementation level.
 Thus, the CIAA has asked the local governments to follow the Public Procurement Act (PPA) to check numerous irregularities, in which they – in collusion with local consumer committees and their officials – are involved in.
“The local governments have not bothered to follow the law and have been disbursing funds to contractors and other stakeholders in a haphazard manner,” the survey report reads, adding that it has been receiving number of complaints from people on various irregularities. “Consumer committees are being provided payments by local authorities in advance even before any work has started.
Consumer committees have been formed, when there the governments could not held local election for almost 20 years. They were supposed to be involved in the development activities in the local level during those years, when there were no local representatives to look at the even regular development activities. After the local elections were held after a gap of 20 years in 2017, it was largely expected that elected representatives will be accountable to the people and governance would improve. But continuation of consumer committees has become the root cause of corruption in the local bodies. Thus, the CIAA has also asked them to take action against the erring consumer committees.
The local bodies have been finalising reports of projects even before the concerned projects have been completed, reads the survey report. On the basis of the survey report the CIAA has directed all the local bodies to follow the proper laws, including the Local Government Operation Act and Public Procurement Act and its directives and guidelines to check irregularities.
The CIAA has received the highest number of complaints about irregularities at the offices related to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, which oversees the affairs of the local governments.
“Due to the use of heavy equipment for minor works, which could have been completed by utilising local human resources, the local people are becoming unemployed,” the report also reads, adding that the equipment are also not being leased in a competitive manner. “The local bodies have not bothered to listen to the needs of the people and are not utilising local human and natural resources.”

Ex-minister Pandey accused of embezzling billions

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today filed a corruption case at the Special Court against 21 persons – including former minister and chairman of the Kalika Construction Bikram Pandey – accusing them of embezzling Rs 8.32 billion in the course of the construction of main canal of Sikta irrigation project, a national pride project.
They have been charged with using faulty design, substandard construction and repeated collapses of the main canal of the national pride project Sikta.
CIAA spokesperson Rameshwor Dangal confirming that the anti-graft body has filed corruption cases against former minister and chairman of the Kalika Construction, Bikram Pandey after a quality test found problems in the works. "The CIAA has charged with corruption on 20 others – along with Pandey – including government officials and consultants involved in the Sikta Irrigation Project," he said, adding that the anti graft body has lately focussed on irregularities in development project implementation. "Those indicted by CIAA are project chiefs Sarva Dev Prasad, Saroj Chandra Pandit, Dilip Bahadur Karki, and Ramesh Basnet; nine senior divisional engineers; engineers with the Irrigation Department Uddhav Raj Chaulagain, and managing director of the project consultant ERMC-ITECO Nepal JV."
The CIAA has sought to recover Rs 2.13 billion as embezzled amount from Pandey, whose Kalika Construction won the contract of building the main canal of the multi-billion-rupee Sikta Irrigation Project that aims at irrigating 80 per cent of arable land in Banke district. However, the quality of works at the project has been questioned after repeated collapses of the main canal. The main canal was heavily damaged at different sections of a 5-km segment in June 2016 and July 2018. When the newly built channel was first tested in June 2016, it collapsed at multiple sections. Despite repair, it broke in July again during another test.
The CIAA came into action after a government probe panel formed on August 10 submitted the report stating that repeated collapses of the main canal were due to the failure to spot dissoluble soil in the designing phase.
The report prepared by the panel – led by joint-secretary at the Energy Ministry Sushi Chandra Tiwari – had stated that consultants, while designing the project, failed to carry out a special soil test, which led to a fragile canal. The panel reported that the detailed project report prepared by the consultant said nothing about the presence of the dissoluble soil in the area where the canal collapsed.
The panel’s report blamed the dispersive soil for the repeated collapse of the main canal. The canal was built on such soil because the feasibility studies did not mention anything about that, according to the report.
According to the CIAA chargesheet, most structures of the project’s canal section crumbled and the huge investment made in the project proved to be a waste of money, provisions to ensure quality work were not incorporated in the contract as it was signed in haste with the intent of committing corruption, authorities okayed wrong design and incorporated incomplete, ambiguous provisions in the contract without going through the reports prepared in the past on the project, those responsible for construction of the project did not conduct even the quality tests stated in the contract, provisions that could ensure quality work in construction of the embankment of the main canal were overlooked, and the joint in concrete lining was substandard, apart from the main canal that was supposed to withstand the current of 50 cubic metres per second could not withstand lower volume of water.
The Office of the Auditor General – in its 55th annual report – has also stated that despite clear presence of dissoluble soil on the surface, its identification, analysis and treatment were not conducted before constructing the canal. Due to the glitches, construction of the project has been delayed and overall cost shot up. When the project was initiated in 2005-06, it was supposed to be completed by 2014-15 at an estimated cost of Rs 12.8 billion.
Officials now say the project may not be completed before 2019-20. By the time it is fully operational, the project cost is expected to shoot to Rs 25.02 billion.
This is the second instance in the last two months of a leading construction firm being charged by the anti-graft body with corruption. The CIAA on October 6 had filed a corruption case against Pappu Construction owner Hari Narayan Rauniyar and his son Sumit Rauniyar for building a substandard bridge over the Babai river in Jabbighat, Bardiya.