Kathmandu, Nov. 20
The joint meeting of the Development
Committee and Finance Committee of the Legislature-Parliament Sunday welcomed
the government's decision to scrap the agreements with the Indian consortium
Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and the Detailed
Project Report (DPR) it had prepared for the construction of the
Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track road.
Supporting the government decision to
construct the shortest motorway to connect the capital city, Kathmandu, with
the southern plains and Nepal-India border on its own, the meeting directed the
government to get the decision approved by the Cabinet at the earliest.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and
Transport Ramesh Lekhak had updated the lawmakers about the government's
decision to cancel all agreements and dealings with the IL&FS so far and
take up the construction by itself.
He said that the ministry had forwarded the proposal to the Cabinet for
approval.
The government has allocated Rs. 10 billion
for the Fast Track in the budget of the current fiscal year with the aim of
building the project on its own.
The project fell into controversy following
lobbying by some interest groups to involve India, and IL&FS in particular,
in developing the ambitious project.
The meeting also expressed concern over the
sluggish progress in the construction of the international airport at Nijgadh
and asked the government to manage funds required to construct the two national
pride projects.
However, speaking at the meeting, Finance
Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara gave assurances that there would be no shortage
of funds for the Fast Track.
The joint meeting also concluded that the
work of preparing the DPR of Nijgadh International Airport by the South Korean
company LMW was not transparant and clear.
It has, therefore, asked the government to
review the agreement with LMW.
As per the DPR prepared by LMW, the total
cost to complete the construction of the airport was put at Rs. 670 billion in
2011. The amount was about Rs. 150 billion higher than the national budget
then.
"We direct the government, Office of
the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, concerned ministries, Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal and National Planning Commission to conclude the
DPR of the two projects, and clarify the development model and establish the
administrative mechanism for them," reads the decision issued by the
Development Committee chairman Rabindra Adhikari and Finance Committee Chiarman
Prakash Jwala.
They said that although the two committees
of the Parliament had continuously nudged the government and other agencies to
expedite the construciton process of the Fast Track and airport for the last
couple of years, there had been no noticable progress.
The meeting urged the government and line
agencies to be conscious of the challenges that could emerge while constructing
large national pride projects like the Fast Track and Nijgadh International
Airport, conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and acquiring
land for the project.
It directed the governement to prepare a
national action plan and forge better coordination among the concerned agencies
and authorities in order to achieve tangible progress while developing large
infrastructure projects.
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