Chilime IPO: Demand from all over Galore, Much higher than previously asked.

The uncertainty over the Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of Chilime Hydro Power Company still continues, with locals around the project site sticking to their demands regarding the provision of shares by the company. To enforce their demands, the local shave had the central office of the company, at Syafru, under padlock for the past few days.

Different stakeholders and protest committees formed in the name of the locals of Rasuwa district have threatened to shut down the 22 MW Chilime Hydro Electricity Project (CHEP) if locals do not get the demanded eight percent of the project's shares. If the project were to shut down, power cuts in Kathmandu Valley would be likely to increase to six hours a day.

Chilime Hydro Company was ready to issue 2.34 million units of shares to the public this week. The company had agreed to provide eight percent of the shares (180,000 units) to locals living in the three affected VDCs of Chilime, Goljung and Syaffru. According to Lila Nath Bhattarai, the managing director of the company, the conflict between locals and the company started after the Securities Board of Nepal, gave the company permission to allocate only five percent shares.

To protest that move, the locals filed a Public Interest Litigation against the company at the Supreme Court (SC),and the SC issued a stay order, to remain in effect until June 24, against the opening of the company's IPO. The company's problems don't end here.

Besides the three affected VDCs identified by the project, four other VDCs have demanded that the company provide five percent of the shares to them. And yet another protesting stakeholder committee led by a local, Phupawangdi Tamang, is making even bigger demands: The committee has demanded that the company provide shares to all the locals of Rasuwa district.

Another local stakeholder committee named Remote Nepal has demanded total 33 percent shares to VDCs besides the three affected VDCs identified by the project and launched protest programmes from last week. Similarly, Rasuwa Disabled Rehabilitation Center Nepal, Dhunche has launched protest programmes demanding separate 10,000 units of shares from the project. According to Bhattarai, all administrative work of the project has been halted due to the protest programmes carried out by five concerned local stakeholder committees.

Source: The Kathmandu Post
Now we is to give shares and whom to not? Demands are increasing four fold. Comments please.