THE SUSTAINER | TRADE SECRETS While at the back end of a deployment on Op KIPION, as the Force Movement Warrant Officer for the Middle East in 2019, I learnt there was an opportunity to be assigned to British Gurkhas Nepal (BGN). Thinking that my current deployment would hinder my chances, I volunteered but remained unconvinced I would be offered the assignment. To my surprise, I promptly received an assignment order and swiftly got in contact with the incumbent at the time to find out what I could. I completed my tour at the end of March 2019 and was on a flight to Nepal at the end of April 2019. The first nine months of the assignment were spent making the most of what Nepal has to offer. However, as it has been all over the world, the COVID-19 global pandemic had a vast effect on how we conducted our daily business and inevitably an adverse impact on the supply chain. The Government of Nepal (GoN) imposed lockdown, which began on 24 Mar 20. This included the suspension of all air and long-distance ground travel with the cessation of the lockdown unpredictable. The ground line of communication from India had been considerably impacted, with no expectation of significant movement until COVID-19 was under control within the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also been impacted by the lockdown and had very limited capacity, causing delays in import licences and permissions for surface freight. BGN at the beginning of the lockdown had 14 containers held in Kolkata (India) incurring demurrage charges, whilst awaiting import authority. New processes had to be quickly formalised by my department and accepted by both the relevant Nepal and Indian customs authorities or the clearance of the backlog could have taken months at a cost of thousands to the MOD. Additionally, the lockdown was inevitably extended into monsoon season. Flooding and landslides were a common occurrence during this time which created further delays to the import of surface freight. Equally, with the international flight suspension, there had been 30
#BritishArmyLogistics
Movement Control in Nepal during COVID-19 By WO2 Thomas Stone, Movement Control Warrant Officer, British Gurkhas Nepal
8 TRfn from RI21 ready to board their flight to the UK
no routine air supply route. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal was permitting foreign government sponsored, chartered relief flights for repatriation, freight and essential (mainly medical) supply. Some freight carriers were operating a significantly reduced service, but not as routine. Shortly after the lockdown was announced, the British Embassy in Kathmandu (BEK) ordered the drawdown of all non-essential personnel and dependants from
8 A400M arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport Kathmandu, Nepal
Nepal. The Defence Attaché in Nepal, who is also the Commander of BGN (Colonel Richard Goodman), subsequently advised a commensurate draw down of our families and any non-essential Service Personnel. On this announcement, our families were extracted back to the UK on one of the three FCDO charter flights, which BGN played a huge role in organising. There were 109 British nationals, and a further 28 foreign nationals identified as stranded in isolated parts of Nepal when the coronavirus crisis broke out. This resulted in a rescue mission to retrieve them. With severely diminished transport routes available in country, over a three-week period BGN personnel 8 Bridge collapse. The riverside exchange between Kathmandu and Pokhara had become quite a struggle due to the monsoon season
www.royallogisticcorps.co.uk • Facebook: The Royal Logistic Corps • Twitter: @UKArmyLogistics
