NEA trade unions agitated

 Trade unions at the Nepal Electricity Authority have announced a four-week protest against the January 3 government decision to upgrade the capacity of Upper Trishuli 3A. All five trade unions said the government had made the ‘illegal’ decision with the intention of causing to the power monopoly losses worth billions.

Organising a press conference, the unions said the decision decreases the NEA’s income in proportion to investment and results in losses

of millions of units of electricity by delaying power generation by three years.

The unions have repeatedly said the China Gezhouba

Group Company Limited tasked with developing the power

project had pressed for the decision and it was not in the interest of the NEA. They had also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai asking him not to go for project upgradation.

At a press meet, the unions said they plan to expose the racket involved in the capacity upgradation in the coming week. As part of their protest, NEA employees will wear black arm bands and launch a signature campaign against the upgradation, the unions informed. The staff will also stage a one-hour pendown in the third week at the NEA headquarters office in Ratnapark. And in the fourth week, the unions will resort to a strike in NEA offices across the country for two hours save in power houses, substations, counters, no light and emergency services. The employees have threatened to disrupt NEA’s services if the government does not roll back the decision even after a month.

The government had award the project on EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Constructing) model to the Chinese company in 2010 through