Sub-committees under the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives have found irregularities in the construction of Pokhara and Gautam Buddha international airports, claim its members.

Two separate panels were constituted amid allegations of big financial irregularities while building Pokhara Regional International Airport and the Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport. After three months of investigation, the sub-panels have indeed found such financial discrepancies in the construction of the two airports.

Despite being built as projects of national pride, neither airport has been able to attract regular international flights.

“Financial irregularities start right from land acquisition. The price paid for the land is unnaturally high while unnecessary land has also been acquired,” Amresh Kumar Singh, a member of the probe panel formed to investigate alleged irregularities in the Gautam Buddha airport, told the Post. “It was built without any feasibility study.”

Likewise, the construction of the Gautam Buddha International Airport was planned to start on January 15, 2015, and be completed by December 2017. However, the deadline was extended by four years to December 2021.

The total cost of the airport construction is $76.1 million, excluding land acquisition. The Asian Development Bank contributed $37 million in loans and grants, while the OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Fund for International Development contributed about $11 million in loans. The rest of the funding came from the government.

The airport is spread over 787 bigha (533 hectares) and has a 3,000-metre-long and 45-metre-wide runway.

Lekh Nath Dahal, a member of the sub-panel formed to probe the construction of Pokhara airport, said they have found several irregularities during the construction. “The irregularities amount to at least Rs1 billion,” he told the Post.

However, both the sub-committees have yet to submit their reports to the PAC.

The sub-panels formed on June 28 had a month to accomplish their task. They were charged with probing everything from the proposal to build the airspaces, investment and contracts, and the entire proceedings from their construction to the current state.

Yet, three months since their formation, they have yet to submit their reports.

Singh said they have prepared a 16-page report excluding the annexes. “I have been pressing our coordinator to submit the report without delay. I will release it unilaterally if there is any further holdup,” he said.

CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai leads the eight-member panel investigating the construction of the Bhairahawa-based airport. Along with Singh, Achyut Prasad Mainali, Bikram Pandey, Manju Khand, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, and Saraj Ahmed Farooki are in the sub-committee.

Dahal also has a similar complaint. “I have asked the committee secretary to finalise the report by tomorrow [Wednesday],” he said.

Probing the construction of Pokhara airport is a 12-member committee led by Rastriya Prajatantra Party chair Rajendra Lingden—which also comprises Arjun Narsingh KC, Gokul Prasad Baskota, Janardan Sharma, Tara Lama Tamang, Teju Lal Chaudhary, Deepak Giri, Dev Prasad Timilsina, Prem Bahadur Ale, Ram Krishna Yadav, Rukmani Rana Baraili and Dahal.

Spread over 3,899 ropani [198.36 hectares] of land, the Pokhara airport, the construction for which began in fiscal 2015-16, was initially scheduled for completion by fiscal 2018-19 at a cost of Rs 22 billion. The timeline was pushed back by two years to fiscal 2020/21, with costs ballooning to Rs25.34 billion.

In March 2016, the government secured a $215.96 million soft loan from China EXIM Bank in March 2016 to fund the project, which was implemented on an engineering procurement and construction (EPC) model.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is investigating the alleged irregularities and has seized documents including those related to the tender process. As the airport has failed to generate enough income, the government has been lobbying the Chinese government to convert the loan into a grant. China hasn’t responded. The loan repayment period has been fixed at 20 years, including a grace period of seven years when no interest will be charged.

The PAC will authenticate the reports when the sub-panels submit them. The reports will then be forwarded to the relevant state agencies for implementation. They can be supporting documents for the constitutional anti-graft watchdog which is already investigating the matter.