Minister Khadka for legal remedies to anti-development activities

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, sep,1 : Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Dipak Khadka has said that it is necessary to legally curb the tendency to obstruct the country's development and construction by filing cases on trivial issues and seeking stay orders from the court. 

He made this remark at a discussion organised at the Ministry on Sunday on the proposed 'Sudurpashchim Province Investment and Development Conference'. The Sudurpaschim government is hosting the conference in Dhangadhi on November 17-18.

"Anti-development and anti-national activities have left the issue unresolved for a long time, making it difficult to begin works on major development projects in time," he said. 

He said the government is committed to resolving these issues through legal means.

He said that the government is serious about improving an investment-friendly environment in the energy sector. "After the promulgation of the constitution, we are in the stage of law-making, but the pace at which the law formation should be made has not yet been achieved. The government has given high priority to policy reforms for the development of the energy sector," he said.

Minister Khadka said that it was a positive aspect that all provinces have shown interest in strengthening their provinces after the country adopted federal system. He said, "The government has taken the private sector into confidence for the economic development of the country. The government is moving forward by amending the laws, which create obstacles in pushing ahead development projects in a time."

He stressed the need for coordination while formulating laws by the federal and provincial governments to advance development works. 

Stating that there is a problem of forest and land acquisition during the construction of hydropower projects, he said that coordination is necessary between all three levels of government to solve these issues.

According to him, the government is committed to building a prosperous Nepal by making maximum use of the resources available in the country, and the ministry is preparing to move forward by making many policy-level decisions in the energy sector.

On the occasion, Chief Minister of Sudurpashchim Province Kamal Bahadur Shah said that the investment conference is being organised for the development and prosperity of the province and urged everyone to make the conference successful. 

He said, "The investment conference is not limited to investment alone, it is an effort to create employment and enhance development activities in the support of the federal government."

 Chief Secretary of Sudurpashchim Province Dr. Kamal Pokhrel said that the province has immense potential and informed that the conference is being organised to make the province prosperous through proper use of available resources.

According to Director General of the Department of Electricity Development, Jeebachh Mandal, about 108 hydroelectric projects with a capacity of 8,241 MW are currently progressing in various stages in Sudurpashchim Province.