सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Kathmandu. Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Devendra Dahal has clarified that the government has moved forward a bill related to ships to open the legal door for the operation of Nepali-flagged ships on the high seas.
Responding to the queries raised by lawmakers during the discussion on the request to consider the ‘Ships (Operation and Management) Bill, 2081’ in today’s meeting of the National Assembly, he said that a related law is also necessary to organize the ongoing and expanding water transport within the country and to prepare documents such as seafarer’s identity cards for Nepalis working at sea.
Minister Poudel said that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides for the right of landlocked countries to operate ships, including marine mines, fishing and other aquatic life, marine research activities, and ship operations beyond two hundred miles from any territory. He informed that despite the provision of rights, Nepal is unable to utilize that resource.
Noting that Nepal must be a party to the Convention to utilize that right, he said that the previous ship-related laws did not make any provision to address the Convention through Nepal’s internal legal system.
‘Since Nepal does not have legal arrangements to provide seafarers’ identity cards, which are essential for working at sea, and since Nepal has not ratified the Convention, it appears that it is working by obtaining identity cards from neighboring countries and other countries,’ Minister Dahal said. He said that it was not possible to protect and expand employment at sea due to the difficulty in obtaining identity cards from other countries.
Before that, MPs Bhagwati Neupane, Beduram Bhusal, Tulsa Dahal, Gopi Bahadur Achhami Sarki, Bishnukumari Sapkota, Rukmini Koirala, Suresh Alemagar, Padam Bahadur Pariyar and Sumitra BC participated in the theoretical discussion on the bill.
The meeting unanimously approved the proposal. National Assembly Speaker Narayan Prasad Dahal informed that MPs who wanted to amend the bill could register an amendment proposal in the Bills Branch. The next meeting of the National Assembly will be held on Monday, Magh 28, at 1:15 PM.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्