#766 10 - 16 July 2015 20 pages Rs 50 DIWAKAR CHETTRI DIWAKAR ENTER: COMING RIGHT UP CHIEF JUSTICE SHRESTHA Cheer up, we have a draft constitution and so far it’s only Kalyan Shrestha has the challenging task of restoring been set alight by Madhesis, women and minorities. the reputation of a tarnished Supreme Court. ONE TO MANY LEGALESE BY BIDUSHI DHUNGEL BY BINITA DAHAL INSIDE PAGE 3 PAGE 6 FIXING Nepal’s tourism was in crisis KASTHAMANDAP WHAT’S long before the earthquake. The shrine after which Kathmandu was named withstood many BROKEN EDITORIAL PAGE 2 quakes in the last 900 years, but came down in this one. PAGE 10-11 BIKRAM RAI DEVAKI BISTA 2 EDITORIAL 10 - 16 JULY 2015 #766 FIXING WHAT’S BROKEN Nepal’s tourism was in crisis long before the earthquake struck uild Back Better’ has become a mantra for were relocated and Sauraha became more and more post-earthquake rehabilitation in Nepal. As unpleasant. There were concerns of safety in domestic ‘B a motto it strives for an ideal outcome: the air travel after a series of crashes. reconstruction of roads, schools, homes, government Air fare was another factor: it cost more for a tourist buildings, hospitals, utilities should not just be physical to fly from Kathmandu to Rara than to fly to Europe. rebuilding, but restructuring each of these sectors from Helicopter rescue in Nepal is as expensive as in the the ground up. United States, and is the highest in the world. Then there Nepal was a disaster zone long before the earthquakes were the high profile disasters like the Everest avalanche struck. Education was in shambles because despite last year followed by government bungling on permits, enrolment numbers being up, quality remained dismal. the tragic loss of lives in the Annapurna blizzard raised The health arena was either over-commercialised or questions of the lack of early warning and shelters along under-served, putting basic medical care out of reach the trail. of most of the population. Kathmandu’s haphazard The ‘Turning Point in Tourism: Role of International urbanisation and unsafe buildings made it a ticking and National Tour Operators’ conference organised by timebomb, and it was not defused by the 7.8 quake on the group, Samarth, last week drew attention to these 25 April. intrinsic factors already affecting Nepal’s tourism before The root reasons for all these problems have the earthquake. Robin Boustead of the Great Himalayan been poor governance, political unwillingness and a Trail Alliance said: “Nepal has fantastic mountains to disturbing lack of accountability on the part of elected climb, but it is becoming a much harder place to climb officials. The earthquake, therefore, has given us the them in.” chance for a paradigm shift not just in the 15 affected BIKRAM RAI Visitor numbers to Nepal have gone down in the districts, but in the rest of the country as well. governments have frightened off potential past. It plummeted by 40 per cent after the 2001 royal And the constitution offers the mechanism to visitors. Insurance companies take their palace massacre, went down by 80 per cent during the 2003 make politics more just and equitable. cue from these blanket notices and the high Gulf War, and shrank to a third of normal during the Maoist Much has already been said in this space premium is further deterrence. Happily, as conflict. But in all these cases, arrival numbers revived in a about maximising job-creation during the we write this, the United States, UK, and New few months. This time, even the most optimistic scenario reconstruction process, and the National Zealand have relaxed their advisories and there predicts a 70 per cent drop in the autumn season, and a 40 Planning Commission has taken the lead in are indications they will be revised further as per cent drop in bookings for the spring. It will take longer ensuring that this happens. This would be REBUILDING independent assessments of the Everest and to bounce back this time. the start of a longterm process of reversing the OURSELVES Annapurna trekking trails and Kathmandu’s The Samarth conference drew up a checklist of things to outflow of desperate young men and women to heritage sites become available. be done to revive tourism revenue: work overseas in appalling conditions. Nepal’s tourism was also in crisis long before the The other mainstay of Nepal’s economy is tourism, earthquake. Visitor numbers were stagnant, spending per Set up a verifiable third party online knowledge base and this has taken a direct hit from the earthquake. tourist was down, average duration of stay was getting with up-to-date information on the safety status of Saturation coverage in the international media of the shorter, repeat visitors were getting rarer. trekking trails immediate aftermath has spread the perception that Nepal It isn’t hard to figure out why: the quality of the product Relaunch the Nepal brand in target markets, especially is completely destroyed. The fact that many tourist spots was going down with the chaos at the airport, the visa lines India and China like Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini, Muktinath or Mustang are and the squalour of Kathmandu. The Annapurna Circuit Clean up the airport, streamline visas, make it easy for not affected is not widely known. and other trekking areas were marred by new highways. visitors In addition, alarmist travel advisories by some Chitwan suffered a 70 per cent drop in visitors after lodges Don’t reduce prices, improve safety and quality of services YOUR SAY www.nepalitimes.com THIS WEEK THERE IS A DRAFT The Meiji Constitution women. Both UML and NC are playing Constitution is dividing Nepal, how can A very balanced solution-oriented promulgated in 1889 in Japan lasted with fi re, you cannot ramrod 40 per that be a good thing? editorial (‘There is a draft’, Editorial, 58 years till 1945 when Japan was cent of the people. Dahal, the coward Sunder Prasad Jha #765) with right amount of critical defeated in the Second World War. that he is, dreams of being President outlook. Gen MacArthur, the allied commander and will do anything for that. Why did RICE PLANTING Dinkar Nepal and the prime minister couldn't 17,000 people die in your fake and Interesting reportage. (‘Nepal’s quiet agree on a new constitution so the failed revolution, Mr Dahal? This draft green revolution’, Sonia Awale, #765). The person who wrote this General got a committee to prepare Constitution divides Nepali people Combination of machine and SRI is JANA AŠENBRENNEROVÁ (70 LIKES) editorial has very low expectations a new draft in a few days and asked instead of uniting them, it is doomed. fascinating and could overcome the Most liked on Facebook for Nepal. We deserve a lot better. the government to endorse it. That Alex Shrestha earlier slow adoption of SRI. But, three At 100, Sher Bahadur Gurung has seen it Manjushree Thapa Constitution is still serving Japan well. times more production through SRI is a all: two world wars, two great earthquakes but urges to rebuild and plant paddy Why does our process have to be so CITIZENSHIP bit of an exaggeration. If the principle of ‘my way or complicated? Nepal is a racist nation. Nepal Suresh Dhakal Most shared on Facebook the highway’ is what pleases the Grimaljee discriminates women and treats Marooned by the monsoon by Om Astha Rai (25 shares) editorial writer, he is hoping for them like fourth class citizens Excellent article that offers a clear nothing but mediocrity. This settling I thought, Baburam Bhattarai, a (#citizenshipinthenameofthemother, way out of Nepal’s crisis of feeding Most popular on Twitter for mediocrity principle is what let man with a PhD, would be a different Tsering Dolker gurung, #765). Nepali itself. Mechanise SRI cultivation, The quiet warrior by JANA AŠENBRENNEROVÁ (65 retweets, 89 favourites) so many innocent people die in kind of politician. Alas, he is just like women should focus their energies work with cooperatives to overcome the quakes. If the foundation of the rest. How can you, Dr Bhattarai, on becoming the next Prime Minister fragmentation of land-holdings, get Most visited online page anything whose age we hope to sign this fi lthy and rotten draft? Any or President. Only then will they be the pricing right, and create jobs while Nepali by descent by Ass (1,842 views) empowering women. It is a win-win-win. be long, turns out to be weak and respect I had, you lost it all. You can able to make laws that treat them as Most commented mediocre, a single tremor may cause redeem yourself still if you have the equals. We need a new force, a new Jens There is a draft, Editorial (36 comments) it to collapse in the future. Learn to guts to stand up for women’s rights. party that will work to ensure the rights believe in a solid foundation that Here is a piece of unsolicited advice: of women. There is change in Nepali garners the interest of the masses leave the Maobadi and start a new Rekha Sharma agriculture but very few people are Weekly Internet Poll #766 rather than a select class. The political force that fi ts your intelligence really tracking this, need for research Q. What do you think of the constitution draft endorsed Madhes is home to half of Nepal’s and stature. ‘Burning’ is the key word here and policy. by the Parliament? population. How then can you ignore Rita Shrestha (‘Burning issues’, Anurag Acharya, DS Total votes: 36 them and say that it is not possible #765) The Nepali Congress and UML to keep everyone happy? Sorry, but I disagree with the are playing with fi re that can engulf BACKSIDE Rohit editor when he writes, ‘Let’s embrace them and reduce them to ashes.