Brick industry should be made environment and technology friendly: Minister Bhandari

Addressing the 16th general meeting of Nepal Brick Industry Federation at Dhulikhel in Kavre on Monday, Minister Bhandari said that the brick industry operating in Nepal should be made environment-friendly and technology-friendly.

Stating that brick industry in Nepal has an old history, Minister Bhandari said that a task force has been formed for the improvement of the industry sector after discussions in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply on issues such as environment-friendly, technology-friendly, quality measurement, product assurance, and employment assurance. He said that brick industries should keep the issue of health problems of workers as the first priority. Addressing the

program, he said that since the brick industry has made a great contribution to the development of the country, this industry cannot be left out. Stating that the internal market of this industry is very important, he said, "Many challenges have been seen in this industry, it is known as a strong construction industry, and despite the challenges, this industry will not collapse as it is a strong industry."

According to him, there are many areas that need to be improved in this industry. He asked the industrialists and businessmen to pay attention to various issues such as environment and health.

According to the president of the Federation, Shankar Bahadur Chand, about 30 percent of the brick industries have been closed because of the economic recession and the government's inability to spend on development. According to him, in the last season only around 400 brick industries were operating, but the production could not be done at full capacity, the industrialists have complained that they are finding it difficult to pay even the interest and installments of the bank as the bricks produced cannot be sold.

When the local and state governments levied taxes in their own way, the cost of bricks became different, and the bricks of one local level or province could not go to another local level or province.