PM Oli shuns inaugurating controversial hotel in Pokhara

Pokhara, June 1

Scheduled to inaugurate the newly-built, Swiss International Hotel Sarowar, here today, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli cancelled the programme in the eleventh hour, given the controversy surrounding the project. He returned today itself.

As per the plan to inaugurate the hotel, Oli had landed at Pokhara airport at around 10:30 am and then headed to inaugurate the 10-storey hotel, built at a cost of around 2 billion rupees in Lakeside. He, however, opted out of the inauguration at the final hour, apparently after his adviser informed him that the hotel was built by flouting the government criteria regarding the building height, and mandatory open space to be maintained on its premises.

The hotel had also installed a plaque reading, ‘inauguration at the hand of the PM’ while the guests awaited for the event. But the PM didn’t appear to take part in the inauguration programme.

He stayed in a hotel room for some time and had something to eat, before leaving the hotel and then returned to the capital.

Social media here was full of public outcry at the prospect of the head of the government inaugurating a controversial project.

It has been learnt that Engineer Bharat Pahari is the main investor in the hotel project. Pahari had faced prison sentence and a fine, following the ruling of the Special Court, over his property issue.

Pahari, who had also served as the coordinator of the criteria determination recommendation committee of the metropolis once, tried to defend his project saying it was built in full compliance with the standards laid down by the metropolis.

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