Republic Memorial misses completion deadline

KATHMANDU, May 29: The construction of the Republic Memorial being built at the eastern section within the premises of the Narayanhiti Royal Palace is still continuing five years since it began.

The government took the decision to build the monument on December 7, 2012. The contract for constructing the monument in three years was handed over to a construction company named ‘Bicoy Sky Banglamukhi Joint Venture’. But even after five years it is yet to be completed.

The government initially allocated Rs 350 million for the memorial to be built over 35 ropanis of land. The government had allocated an additional budget of Rs 50 million.

Company’s Executive Director, Roshan Shrestha, confided that the delay in construction was caused by the earthquake and the blockade. “The work is in the final stages of completion, we are yet to receive Nepal’s map that represent the Himalayan range, hills and the Tarai,” Shrestha said.

Separate monuments have been built in the memory of those who attained martyrdom during the insurgency; those made to disappear at the hands of the state, and those who still remain unaccounted for.

At the initial stage, 150 workers were employed on a daily basis which has now come down to 50. The government had planned to inaugurate the memorial on the Republic Day today. RSS