Balen Shaha, the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, has criticized the former Prime Minister KP Oli for inaugurating the White Tower project without completing it and leaving behind a mess for the public.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Shaha said that the White Tower, which was supposed to be a replica of the historic Dharahara tower that collapsed in the 2015 earthquake, was inaugurated by Oli on April 24, 2021, even though it was not fully constructed.
The then Mayor of Kathmandu, Bidyasunder Shakya, had praised Oli for the project and said that it would have been named after him if it was in the Rana era, when the original Dharahara was built by a prime minister.
However, Shaha said that the project was a sham and a waste of public money, as it remained unfinished even after two years and nine months. He said that a few days ago, when the parking lot at the same site was opened for the public, a letter was written by the project authorities, saying that Dharahara was still under construction and parking was prohibited.
Shaha questioned the logic of writing such a letter and said that Oli should have written a letter to those who challenged him on how he reached the 20th floor of the tower if it was not built.
Shaha also called for a national policy to prevent such corruption and malpractice in public projects and urged the federal and state governments and parliaments to pass such a policy. He said that the trend of inaugurating projects without completing them in a hurry and writing names on the walls should be discouraged and considered a new form of corruption.
Shaha also said that he would not allow the parking lot to be closed and that it was being operated free of charge by the metropolis for the benefit of the public. He said that he would not let the public property be used for personal gain and that he would not tolerate any jokes with the things that affect the daily life of the common people and the management of the city.
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