Kathmandu, February 6
It has been revealed that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Maoist Central
Committee Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ have made a written commitment to get the US aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approved by the parliament. It has been revealed that Deuba and Prachanda have written a letter to the MCC board expressing their commitment to get the MCC approved by the parliament.
A letter sent by the two leaders to the MCC board on September 29, 2021 has been received by online news. In a joint letter addressed to the MCC board chairperson, the two leaders expressed their commitment to get approval from the MCC parliament and asked for four to five months. ”We urge Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and ruling coalition leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to give the MCC board more time to jointly pass the MCC agreement in parliament,” the joint letter signed by the two leaders said.
Prime Minister Deuba, who returned home after participating in COP-26 held in Glasgow,
Scotland on kartik 18, had disclosed that he and Prachanda had sent a letter at Tribhuvan
International Airport with a commitment to implement MCC. ”Prachandaji and I have already sent a letter to the US saying that we will pass the MCC,” he said. But Prachanda insisted that a letter with a commitment to approve the MCC had not been sent.
The letter, which had been kept secret for a long time, was received by online news about four months later. In a letter to the MCC board, Prime Minister Deuba and UCPN (Maoist) Central Committee Chairman Prachanda have sought approval from the MCC parliament. In the letter, he mentioned that discussions were held in Nepal with MCC Board Vice-Chairperson Fatima G. Sumar and expressed his commitment to get the approval from the MCC Parliament.
Fatima arrived in Nepal in the second week of September to discuss the status of the MCC
project. ”We have discussed the agreement in detail with the Board Vice-Chairperson Fatima Sumar and have also expressed our commitment to get it approved by the Parliament,” Deuba and Prachanda wrote.
The two leaders have written in the letter that it will take four to five months to create the
necessary environment for MCC approval from the parliament.
At that time, they have committed to do six things for it. Prime Minister Deuba and UCPN
(Maoist) Central Committee Chairman Prachanda have said that the explanation sent by the MCC will be discussed among the parties in the alliance.
Prime Minister Deuba and UCPN (Maoist) Central Committee Chairman Prachanda have
promised that the government will hold public debates to dispel misconceptions about the MCC. ”To disseminate factual information about the MCC through government media, to encourage MCA Nepal to complete technical and communication work, which will facilitate the implementation of the MCC,” the letter said.
Prime Minister Deuba and Prachanda believed that the long-standing friendship and supportive relationship between the two countries would provide more time for approval of the MCC project. ”We are confident that the MCC Board will accept our request, which will require some time for approval from the MCC Parliament,” the letter concluded.
The five-month deadline for Prime Ministers Deuba and Prachanda to seek MCC approval is
approaching, but it is doubtful that the MCC agreement will be passed by parliament as
promised. There are sharp differences between the ruling coalition parties over the MCC.
The MCC Compact Agreement was signed between the Government of Nepal and the United States of America on September 14, 2017 means 29 Bhadra 2074 BS. The agreement was signed by Finance Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki of the Deuba-led government.
Despite the agreement to provide MCC assistance for construction of power transmission lines and road infrastructure, it has not been implemented yet. The agreement stipulates that the US government will invest US 500 million (approximately Rs 60 billion) and the Nepali government US 130 million in projects under the MCC.
Under the project, a 400 kV transmission line will run from Lapsiphedi in Kathmandu through Ratmate in Nuwakot to Damauli in Tanahu and from there to Butwal in Rupandehi.
The project aims to extend the same transmission line to Gorakhpur, India. Similarly, another transmission line will be connected to Dhalkewar-Duhabi transmission line from Ratmate of Nuwakot via Hetauda of Makwanpur.
In addition, as per the MCC agreement, high-level maintenance work will be carried out on five different road sections along the transmission line. The project, which should have been completed in five years, is in a state of disrepair even after five years. The MCC project will be implemented only after the approval of the parliament (Sourced from Online Khabar).
By Karuna Thapa
