A proposal to form a high-level committee on air accidents reached Cabinet

KATHMANDU, Sep 25:The bills to separate the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and the proposal to constitute a high-level inquiry committee for previous air incidents have reached the Cabinet. It was presented before the Council of Ministers after it was suggested that the service provider and regulator be separated since they were ineffective.

Badri Pandey, Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, announced that the law separating the CAAN into a regulatory and service-providing agency has been submitted to the Council of Ministers, and the process will begin soon. He stated that the tourist policy is being developed, and a draft of the tourist Act has been sent to the Ministry of Finance for review.

He stated that a proposal for the formation of a high-level commission to review past air tragedies, as well as a law to separate regulatory and service provider organizations in civil aviation, had been filed to the Council of Ministers.

"The topic of past air catastrophes has reached the Cabinet. "A high-level investigation committee is being formed, led by a former high court judge," he stated. "The bill designed to separate regulatory and service provider agencies in aviation has passed through the Ministry of Finance and Law and has now reached the Bill Committee of the Cabinet."

He stated that work is being done at the inter-ministerial level to operate the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports.

Pandey stated that some areas must be addressed immediately, while others require strategic reforms, thus legal and policy frameworks will be implemented, as well as structural and management improvements. Minister Pandey stated that efforts are underway to make the ministry's agencies more dynamic and effective.

"Regarding the action plan passed by the Council of Ministers for the operation of two international airports, all the work to be done by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Labor, etc. will be discussed inter-ministerially and the action plan will be finalized," according to him.