NTB misusing resources by amending Financial Bylaws

The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), which has been entrusted with the task of promoting the country’s tourism in the national and international arenas, has been found to be misusing resources by amending its Financial Bylaws.

A copy of the amended Financial Bylaws 2013 obtained by the Post shows that it has authorized the NTB’s chief to spend Rs 10 million at a time for tourism promotion inside the country. This means that the chief executive officer (CEO) can spend this much money through a sealed quotation process.

The NTB boss can spend US$ 400,000 at a time outside the country without following any due process of the Public Procurement Act (PPA). Likewise, the CEO has been given the power to spend US$ 400,000 at a time through its honorary representatives and firms.

Although the PPA 2007 says that any authority, corporation, academy, board, centre or council established at the public level or formed by the government is required to invite open bids for procurement of goods and services with a value of above Rs 1 million, the NTB is out of bounds to this law.

As per the new rules, the NTB can procure goods and services worth up to Rs 2.5 million through a quotation. The board can purchase goods and services including its promotional materials through a single supplier directly through a written proposal.

As per the PPA, procurement should not be done in a piecemeal manner so as to limit competition. However, in a violation of the rules, the NTB can make piecemeal purchases under the new bylaws. In other words, it can buy goods in small amounts under the same procurement deal. The rules have also given powers to the head of the NTB to appoint an internal auditor to audit the board’s accounts. 

According to Dhurba Narayan Shrestha, an NTB board member, the decision to amend the bylaws was taken by the board as inviting tenders for promotional activities on international news channel was too difficult under the existing process or through the PPA. 

“Giving power to the CEO to use funds doesn’t mean that he or she will misuse it because the planned spending has to be approved by the board first,” he said. “Besides, there are a number of anti-graft bodies which will be keeping a close watch for misuse of funds.”

However, Anup Kumar Upadhyay, secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, said that open bids for the procurement of goods and services above Rs 1 million are mandatory for all, and institutions cannot violate the law. “Bidders will file a case if they found such practices in any institution.” The amended document has not been made public yet.

The NTB has been stumbling along without its head since the then CEO Prachanda Man Shrestha’s tenure expired on October 31, 2011. Currently, its officiating CEO Subash Nirola has been looking after the entire management.

TRAVEL ALLOWANCES
Meanwhile, the NTB has also jacked up the travel allowances and perks for its management staff and board of directors by more than 200 percent through the amended bylaws. The secretary of the Tourism Ministry, who chairs the NTB board, gets a daily allowance of Rs 14,000 that includes hotel accommodation and perks during his visits inside the country. The CEO and board members also receive the same amount as per diem. Earlier, the daily travel allowance was Rs 4,440.

Interestingly, the per diem paid by the government to its secretaries is Rs 1,400 for travel outside the Kathmandu valley. The travel allowances provided by the NTB to the board’s chairman, vice-chairman, CEO and board members on their visit to the US, Europe, Korea and Japan is US$ 650 per day. Before the revision, the per diem was US$ 288. They get US$ 475 per day on their visits to other countries now compared to US$ 213 earlier.

In contrast, the travel allowance set by the government for the secretary-level post for travel to foreign countries is US$ 175 per day.

On April 22, 20 travel trade organizations decided to boycott any national or international programme organized by the NTB, accusing it of misusing funds collected as tourism service fee. They have also submitted a memorandum to the Tourism Minister regarding the mater. 

As the government has permitted the NTB to double its tourism service fee collected from tourists departing from Tribhuvan International Airport to Rs 1,000 from March 1, the NTB’s annual budget is expected to balloon to Rs 1.21 billion.

source: the himlayan times,26 april 2014