A subpanel of the House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has confirmed irregularities and corruption worth billions of rupees in the construction of Pokhara International Airport.

Finalising the draft report nearly 10 months after its formation, the 12-member committee led by Rastriya Prajatantra Party chair Rajendra Lingden has unearthed irregularities and corruption in construction as well as exemption of taxes to the construction companies.

“The corruption and the irregularities amount to around Rs14 billion in the current exchange rate of US dollar,” Prem Ale, a member of the committee, told the Post.

The subpanel has listed out corruption and irregularities in around a dozen issues. The project report suggested that the soil at the construction site was not suitable to build the airport as the runway’s elevation had to be increased. Though nearly $5.5 million was paid to cover the cost of transporting the soil and pebbles to the site from at least five kilometers away, the study has found no soil was brought from outside.

Similarly, the elevation of the runway must be between 2,677 and 2,674 feet above sea level, as per the agreement. Filling of the sand and pebbles was necessary to attain the required elevation. However, the runway was built at 2,636 feet above sea level by going against the agreement, per the study.

“We have found huge corruption in tax exemptions. Though the contract agreement clearly says the construction company would pay the taxes, different governments have exempted taxes worth Rs2.2 billion rupees,” said Ale. “This is a serious matter.”

Concluding that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which oversaw the construction, was directly involved in the corruption and irregularities, the study panel has recommended immediate suspension of Pradeep Adhikari, director general at the authority, as well as further investigation. Adhikari was the head of the project from 2014 to 2017.

The Lingden-led panel has also recommended investigation against the authority's former director generals Sanjeev Gautam and Rajan Pokharel. Moreover, it has said that Binesh Munakarmi, the project head, and Baburam Poudel, director at the authority, too need to be investigated after their suspension.

It has also spelled out the need for a probe against Chandmala Shrestha and Prabin Neupane, directors of the national pride projects, and its administrative chief Rajendra Prasad Poudel.

“As the House panel is not an investigating body, it will recommend the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority conduct a detailed probe,” Ekram Giri, secretary of the PAC, told the Post.

Though the study panel has finalised the draft, not all lawmakers have undersigned it. “Yes, we have found some irregularities and some arrears,” said Tara Tamang Lama, another member of the committee. “However, I and some others too have not signed it as we are yet to come to a final conclusion. We are yet to properly study the report.”

Once it is passed by the Lingden-led panel, it will be tabled at the PAC for endorsement. Following the endorsement, the full committee will make final decisions.

Spread over 3,899 ropanis [198.36 hectares], the Pokhara airport, whose construction began in the fiscal 2015-16, was initially scheduled for completion by the fiscal 2018-19, at the cost of Rs22 billion. The timeline was pushed back by two years to the fiscal 2020-21, with the cost ballooning to Rs25.34 billion.

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.

Following complaints of corruption, the committee was formed on June 28 last year. It has Arjun Narasingh KC, Gokul Prasad Baskota, Janardan Sharma, Tamang, Teju Lal Chaudhary, Deepak Giri, Dev Prasad Timilsina, Ale, Ram Krishna Yadav, Rukmani Rana Baraili and Lekh Nath Dahal as members.

Similarly, a separate committee led by CPN-UML lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai was formed on the same day to study possible corruption in the Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport. It has Amresh Kumar Singh, Achyut Prasad Mainali, Bikram Pandey, Manju Khand, Shyam Kumar Ghimire and Saraj Ahmed Farooki as members. The panel has yet to finalise its report.