The Nepali Embassy in London, an impressive multi-storey Victorian-era stucco mansion, stands on the one of the world’s costliest streeets, alongside residences of the ambassadors to France, India and Russia. Located at 12A Kensington Palace Gardens, the 750-acre compound bordering Hyde Park is the single most expensive piece of property that Nepal owns. First leased to Nepal in the 1930s, in appreciation of the Gurkhas’ service in the British Army and Nepal’s good relations with the British empire, the Nepal government pays a pittance for it: 1,000 pounds sterling as annual rent. The property, the lease for which was renewed for another 99 years in 1980, could fetch between 300-500 million pounds sterling if sold through a competitive bidding process. That money, however, is not worth this historic heritage abroad.

Unfortunately, years of political transition and ineffectual governments back in Nepal have allowed the once magnificent property to lose its lustre, with its grounds unkempt and overgrown and the building itself dilapidated and in desperate need of repair. After repeated exhortations from the British Crown—as the property technically still belongs to the British Royal Family—to repair and maintain the building, the London mission had asked the Nepal government for 4.5 million pounds for repair and maintenance. However, the Ministry of Finance released only 200,000 pounds last month. Meanwhile, the former Baburam Bhattarai-led government had been seriously considering selling the London property, along with another piece of prime real estate in Bonn, Germany, citing maintenance costs. A government team, which includes the Nepali Ambassadors to London, Brussels and Berlin, has conducted a field survey but is still undecided on whether the property should be sold. Further compounding problems, the Nepal government has failed to pay the insurance on the building for 2012. The British insurance party, Aviva, has threatened to terminate its insurance pact with the Nepali embassy if it doesn’t receive the premium of 43,000 pounds by May 1.

Given their sacrifices for Nepal and the British flag, the Gurkha Army Ex-servicemen’s Association (GAESO), understandably, has taken exception to the Nepal government’s plan to sell the building. The Supreme Court of Nepal, responding to petitions filed by GAESO, has issued a stay order on the plan to sell the building while the association, along with Non-Resident Nepalis and the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin), have launched a citizen campaign to protest the sale of the building and raise funds for its maintenance. While not a paltry sum, the government can surely afford the 4.5 million pounds (around Rs 600 million) for repairs as it already makes around 400,000 pounds yearly through the London mission itself. And given the state of politics today, with an interim election government consisting of technocrats in power, it does not seem prudent to sell such an expensive piece of property just yet. Only when a government with a people’s mandate is in place, plans to sell off public property can be seriously considered. Until then, the government would do well to release funds for repair and the insurance premium.

Published on: 30 April 2013 | The Kathmandu Post