The Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) has blacklisted the ousted Spanish contractor of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Modernisation Project for failing to complete government projects within the deadline and non-cooperation with authorities.

The blacklisting will bar the contractor, Constructora Sanjose, from competing in any project in Nepal for a period of two years. 

The PPMO had taken a harsh decision after the firm failed to furnish satisfactory explanation for failing to complete projects on time, said officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (Caan), the aviation sector regulator. The firm was blacklisted on July 12. 

Sanjose and the Caan had signed the contract for TIA Modernisation Project in December 2012 with the completion deadline set for March 2016. The Caan said adios to the Spanish company by officially issuing a ‘notice of termination’ on December 9, 2016 for delays. In four years, the physical progress of the project was a meagre 17 percent. 

Caan officials said that the company was given an extended deadline to complete the project. Yet it did not improve performance despite repeated warnings. 

The Spanish contractor, however, has filed a Rs2.91-billion compensation claim at the dispute settlement board, an independent arbitrator. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $80 million in loan and grant, and the government has contributed $12 million for the TIA scheme which has since 

been renamed as the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project. 

With the Spanish contractor’s termination, the Caan has officially started scouting for other firms interested in giving continuity to the TIA Modernisation Project.

Project officials said evaluation process of financial bids of bidders who are technically qualified for the project is at the final stage. 

China Railway 14 Bureau Group of China, Shanxi Construction Engineering Group of China, STRABAG International GmbH of Germany and Nepali joint-venture of Kalika-Tundi have been technically qualified for the Package 1 of the project that includes runway extension and associated works.  Likewise, two Nepali joint-ventures Contech-Lumbini and Sharma-Prera-Ashish have been qualified for Package 2 schemes that include construction of international terminal building and associated works. 

“After the financial evaluation, a draft report will be prepared and forwarded to the ADB for approval,” said the project official. “The approval from the ADB will allow us to sign the contract agreement with the potential bidders.” 

The official said that works related to Package 1 scheme that will last for 18 months will begin after monsoon or September-end. However, the Package 2 scheme that will last for 21 months can be rolled out immediately as monsoon will not affect 

works related to construction of the international terminal building. However, bids 

for soil filling works will be invited only after two months as the project has decided to expand the coverage area. Out of 2 million cubic meters of soil required for the expansion work, the project has been able to supply only 600,000 cubic meters. 

If all these works are completed on time, the project completion date would move forward to 2019. After the completion of the project, TIA will be able to handle more than 5.85 million passengers annually and accommodate bigger aircraft.

NAC starts online ticket booking

KATHMANDU:Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched internet booking engine (IBE), enabling international debit and credit card holders to book airline tickets online from anywhere in the world. 

An internet booking engine allows a customer to specify their travel requirements such as city of departure, destination, departure date, return date and class of travel. Once the information is fed, the IBE offers a list of options, based on which customers can book their air tickets.

The online system was inaugurated by Tourism Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari amidst a programme on Sunday. 

Adhikari said information technology is one of the vital tools to improve management performance and urged the corporation to be more focused on it. According to NAC, for the time being, only international debit and credit card holders can book the tickets. 

“We are also preparing to make some changes in the technical front to enable the system to accept payments in Nepali currency while making ticket reservations,” NAC said in a statement. NAC launched the internet ticket booking service through technical support of India and Thailand.