Nepal’s PAC directs cancellation Huaxin Cement Narayani land lease pact

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Nepali parliament has directed Rorang Village Municipality of Dhading to cancel the land lease pact with Huaxin Cement Narayani Pvt Ltd. The PAC cited that the Nepal-China joint venture had not yet conducted the initial environmental examination (IEE) of the plant and had not followed the terms and conditions of the agreement, according to a report in The Himalayan Times.

PAC Secretary, Roj Raj Pandey, said the committee has directed the local body to cancel the 50-year land lease agreement for 169 ropanis (85,977m2) of land. The factory is being built on some 254,370m2 of land for which the joint venture has already acquired the remaining land from locals. The PAC has also directed the government not to allow the cement producer to build the access road to the site until the company submits a detailed project report (DPR) and environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The IEE issue came to the attention when recent floods caused damages worth more than NPR1bn (US$8.7m) at the proposed construction site.