The Federation of Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs has threatened to launch an agitation if the government does not pay the dues on time. The Federation claims that the government is yet to pay Rs 59 billion to the construction companies from the fiscal year 2079/080. Federation’s President Ravi Singh said that due to non-payment by the government on time, the work of more than 2,000 projects under construction has come to a standstill.

Chairman Singh has said that the situation has come to agitate after the government did not show any sign of giving payment. According to him, the agitation program will be made public by organizing a national gathering on Pous 27.

The construction work will be stopped within a few months. Even after the payment is received, the work cannot proceed. "The construction workers are in trouble for not being able to pay the bank installments due to non-payment by the government," he said, adding that some construction workers have been displaced."

The first quarter review of the monetary policy released on Mangsir 14 pointed out that none of the problems of the construction entrepreneurs could be addressed, but the government was not serious.

According to the Federation, more than $40 billion is due to be paid to various sectors in two fiscal years - 2079/080 and 2080/081. 19 billion rupees has been added in the current financial year. Singh said that out of this, only the Department of Roads has to pay more than 7 billion.

Finance Ministry spokesman Mahesh Bhattarai said that the payment problem was being added to the bill due to non-payment of the bill equal to the payment amount due to the construction workers. Also, they say that there is not enough money to make payments each financial year. There is a problem with the payment if the budget is not enough. "There is no budget for three financial years," he said.

Keshav Kumar Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, claims that the construction businessmen do not have to pay such a large amount. He said that the construction workers have been asked to pay the bills for the current financial year. “Old bills are being withdrawn," he said.

People’s News Monitoring Service.