The sub-committee formed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the parliament has concluded that there has been corruption of Rs 3.88 billion in procurement of wide-body planes and instructed the government to immediately suspend General Manager of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) Sugat Ratna Kansakar.
“We have recommended immediate suspension of Kansakar as his continuation in the position will affect investigations,” a PAC member told Setopati. The 33-page report submitted by the sub-committee formed by the PAC to probe irregularities in procurement of the airplanes has also recommended suspension of the NAC board, according to the PAC member.
The sub-committee had summoned almost 50 persons for questioning while probing the procurement process. It has also drawn the attention of the government to take action against Civil Aviation Minister Rabindra Adhikari and two predecessors stating that corruption of such a large scale is not possible with involvement of just staffers.
A source in the sub-committee claimed that coordinator of the sub-committee Rajendra KC is not in favor of recommending action against Minister Adhikari and two former ministers. A few members in the sub-committee, on the other hand, are taking a stand to recommend action against the council of ministers stating that there is no provision in the Loan and Guarantee Act allowing the government to provide guarantee for procurement of old airplanes.
The Office of the Auditor General in its 55
th report had pointed at irregularities in the procurement process after the NAC initiated process for procuring old airplanes despite inviting bids for procuring new ones.
The NAC had formed a sub-committee under Kansakar on January 18, 2016 for procurement of new planes. The government on September 14, 2016 had written to the NAC stating it will provide guarantee for procurement of airplanes. The NAC on September 26 in the same year published a 45-day notice for procurement of two Airbus planes.
The notice had invited bids for Airbus A 330-200 planes with Rolls-Royce Trent 772B engines that have clocked 1,000 flights hours. The sub-committee has concluded that inviting bids for old planes and specifying the kind of engines have violated the Public Procurement Act that prohibits mention of a particular brand, trademark, patent, design or manufacturer while preparing specifications except when there is no other option. It has also taken exception to procurement of the planes from an agent instead of procuring it directly from the manufacturer.
The NAC had acquired the first wide-body plane on June 28 and the second on July 26.
The procurement process had come under scanner after it was revealed that the NAC procured planes with maximum takeoff weight of 230 tons after formulating a business plan to procure those with 242 tons.
