Bhairahawa businessmen worry about partial operation of GBIA

By Our Correspondent,Bhairahawa, April. 1: Private sector businessmen have expressed their concern over the partial operation of the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa of Rupandehi. They worried that even more than 10 months after the airport came into operation, there has not been  flow of tourists and passengers as expected which has only jeopardised  the investment of billions of rupees. “The private sector investment will go waste if the airport is not operated regularly,” they said.

Businesspeople who spoke at a discussion programme on ‘GBIA operation and tourism promotion’ organised by Chamber of Commerce, Rupandehi,  warned that if the GBIA did not come into full operation, they would organise protest programmes. 

Immediate past president of Chamber of Commerce, Rupandehi, Narayan Prasad Bhandari said that the private sector had invested billions in hotel and other businesses in the hope that the airport would be fully operational and the business would run to their fullest. 

He said that since businessmen have invested billions in hotels by taking loans from banks, the relevant agencies should pay attention to the issue. “We will start the protest by staging a sit-in at the airport to exert pressure for the regular operation of the airport,” said Bhandari.

He demanded that the Indian tourists should be allowed to bring at least INR 500,000 to Nepal in order to support and promote tourism business in the area. “Indian tourists can bring only INR 25,000 to Nepal, and how can it be said that they do not spend a good amount of money?” he questioned. 

President of Chamber of Commerce, Rupandehi, Anil Kumar Gyawali, said that Jazeera Airlines flies to the airport only three days a week and that even after more than 10 months have passed since the airport was inaugurated, the airport has not been fully operational. 

He said that there should be direct flights from Bhairahawa to the Indian cities.

Omkar Gauchan, president of Bhairahawa Morning Walk Group, emphasised the need to tighten the border crossings to promote internal trade. He expressed his concern that the shutters of the area were being closed and businesses were fleeing.

Tourism businessman Sanjay Bajimaya said that if the airport was not brought into operation fully, the investment made by the private sector would be lost. Pitambar Neupane, president of Hotel and Restaurant Entrepreneurs Association, Rupandehi, said that the inability of the airport to be fully operational was a weakness on the part of the government.

President of Lumbini Hotel Association, Govinda Gyawali, said that an environment should be created for tourists to spend more. Rajesh Mahotra, Deputy Secretary General of Federation of Hotel Association, warned that if the government did not listen to their demands, they would shut down their business and go on strike.

Likewise, tourism businessmen Ravi Sharma, Shree Chandra Gupta, Sagar Adhikari, businesspersons Krishna Pandey, Shivam Jaiswal, Kamala Thapa and others said that the hotel business would be collapsed when tourists continued to  stay in the Lumbini monastery.

President of Siddharth Hotel Association, Chandra Prakash Shrestha, said that they would not remain silent and warned that domestic flights would also be stopped if this situation persisted.

Hansa Raj Pandey, Manager of the GBIA, said that the role of the private sector was important in the successful operation of any project and said that Nepali airlines companies should show interest in flying from the GBIA.