Agriculture Inputs Company looks for blacklisting Shailung Enterprises and Honiko Multiple Company for their alleged negligence in fertilizer supply
KATHMANDU, Sept 7: The Agriculture Inputs Company Limited (AICL) has scrapped the contract with the non-performing importers of chemical fertilizers and has initiated action for blacklisting these contractors. The failure of these contractors to import chemical fertilizers on time is feared to bring huge reduction in the production of overall paddy production this year.
The AICL, a government undertaking, had awarded contracts to the Shailung Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Lalitpur and Honiko Multiple Pvt Ltd, Kathmandu to supply chemical fertilizers for this rainy season. Shailung Enterprises is owned by Sharada Prasad Adhikari, the house owner of the chairman of the ruling Nepal Communist Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
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Both these companies had signed agreements to import 25,000 tons of urea, one of the important fertilizers used for paddy production. While Shailung was supposed to import fertilizer from Russia or Oman, Honiko had informed the government that it planned to import the fertilizer from China.
Issuing a press release on Sunday, the AICL said that it had scrapped the agreement with these companies and seized the cash amounts deposited in their performance guarantee. They have maintained guarantees worth Rs 48 million each while signing the contracts. In addition, the government body has also sought to recover the compensation amount from the contractor companies.
The AICL had inked an agreement with Shailung Enterprises on April 20 and a separate agreement with Honiko Multiple on April 27 to supply a total of 25,000 tons of urea. For this purpose, these two companies on May 12 opened the letter of credit accounts in Nepal Investment Bank and Siddhartha Bank, respectively.
As per the agreement, these companies were supposed to have supplied the first consignment within 42 days from the date of the issuance of the letter of credit while the second shipment was to be delivered within 72 days.
After the companies delayed in importing the consignments, the government had extended the deadline for an additional 25 days. The extension of the deadline paved the way for them to supply the much-needed fertilizers by September 5.
However, the AICL has accused the companies of failing to provide the details of imported fertilizer to the government authority. “Despite repeated follow up, the companies did not provide details on vessels nomination, name of the vessels and whereabouts of the imported fertilizers,” reads the press statement.
