Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal (FCAN) has warned of protests if long-pending payments for completed projects are not released on time.
According to FCAN, the government owes contractors Rs 59 billion with payments from as early as 2022/23 still pending. FCAN President Ravi Singh said that the delay in releasing payments may affect over 2,000 ongoing projects.
FCAN has called a national gathering of construction entrepreneurs across the country in Kathmandu on January 11 to devise its protest strategies.
“If contractors are not paid now, all construction work will come to a grinding halt within months. Many are unable to pay bank installments, and some have already been displaced from the business,” Singh said.
While the first quarterly review of the monetary policy for the current fiscal year in the last week of November acknowledged the issue, FCAN alleges the government remains indifferent to the plight of construction entrepreneurs.
According to FCAN, outstanding payments of the current fiscal year have reached Rs 19 billion on top of Rs 40 billion of the past two fiscal years. The Department of Roads alone owes Rs 7 billion to different construction entrepreneurs.
Finance Ministry Spokesperson Mahesh Bhattarai stated that the delay in releasing payments is primarily due to contractors failing to submit bills for completed work on time. “The government lacks sufficient resources to clear all pending payments at once,” he added.
Similarly, Keshav Kumar Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, argued that the outstanding payment amount is not as high as construction entrepreneurs are claiming. “We have already cleared payments worth Rs 8 billion since mid-November,” he added.
