FM asks the NRNs to invest in Nepal through mutual funds

Kathmandu, Feb. 21: Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Thursday urged the Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) to invest in Nepal through mutual funds.

This is the high time to invest in Nepal as the country is set on the path of economic growth and progress, and I have come here to discuss your problems and investment potentials, he said while speaking at a programme organised by the NRN Association – United Kingdom in London.

He said that Nepal aims at attracting large investment – both domestic and foreign – in large infrastructure projects, especially in energy and connectivity, agriculture and tourism. To showcase the potential in the primary investment areas in the country, Nepal is organising an Investment Summit on March 29-30 this year.

Minister Dr. Khatiwada is in London to participate in Nepal Development Conference where he will present the investment prospects in Nepal and request the investors to come to Nepal.

"We have recently created a new provision on hedging in order to provide a risk management tool for the investors investing in foreign currency," he said. He highlighted the recent economic reforms and the improved business and investment environment in the country.

He said the recently published customs issues were exaggerations.

He urged one and all to take the goods that are useful to Nepalis through the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Customs and said that the checking at the airport had been simplified and fast.

"Customs checking is normal everywhere around the world. The thing that is considered a normal procedure has been made a controversial issue in our case," he said.

Likewise, Dr. Khatiwada clarified that the tax rates were not hiked instead a reform was made to simplify the tax process and administration.

He expressed his confidence that the country would achieve higher than 7 per cent economic growth as the things were moving in the right direction and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had also said that Nepal would achieve a high economic growth this year.

Similarly, he said that the trade deficit was not a problem emerged all of sudden but a structural problem since last many years.

He maintained that as the country has embarked on the track of creating development infrastructure and developing agriculture and industrial sectors, and the structure of production has been changed, the country was experiencing trade deficit.

Dr. Khatiwada will address the Nepal Development Conference, to be organised by the Nepali Embassy, London, as a keynote speaker on Friday. The conference is said to support the Investment Summit.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 February 2019. 

Austrian Minister Kneissl in town

Kathmandu, Feb. 21: Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria Karin Kneissl has arrived here on Thursday afternoon.

She is on a 3-day visit to Nepal and leading an Austrian delegation for official bilateral visit at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

Kneissl will call on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday. She is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with FM Gyawali and address a talk programme on '60 years of Nepal-Austria Partnership: Energy, Regional and Global Trends' to be hosted by the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Nepali Ambassador to Austria Prakash Kumar Subedi and Joint-Secretary of the MoFA Ghanshyam Bhandari welcomed Kneissl at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

 She is scheduled to leave Kathmandu on Saturday.

published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 February 2019. 

Women in power form region body

Lalitpur, Feb. 20:

Women in power sector in the region Wednesday launched a regional network 'WePower' – Women's Professional Network for the Power Sector in South Asia.

The joint initiative, by the World Bank's South Asia Energy and Social Development Units under the South Asia Gender and Energy facility, was announced at the first South Asia regional conference of Women in Power Sector here.

The new organisation aims at supporting higher participation of women in energy projects and utilities, and promotes normative change regarding women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

WePower is envisaged to become a vibrant and self-sustaining professional network backed by strategic partners that can provide technical and financial support.

"Its work programme will focus on five strategic areas—education, recruitment, development, retention, and policy and analysis, read the press statement. It will provide capacity building support, networking, and mentorship for women engineers for career advancement, research to reform policies and practices, exposure to technology, recruiting opportunities, and access to information and conferences," said the organisers.

The World Bank Group has agreed to host the WePOWER Secretariat for an initial four years. A second Steering Committee meeting is planned to be held at ADB headquarters in Manila in November.

Moreover, an assessment conducted by the World Bank in eight South Asian countries found very low female enrollment rates in engineering programmes (ranging from 0.5 per cent to 31 per cent), low female staff representation in utilities (2 per cent to 17 per cent), and an even lower percentage of women in technical roles in utilities (0.5 per cent to 6 per cent).

The studies identified the need for role models and family support, absence of basic facilities and transport, and presence of various forms of discrimination and harassment.  

There are 4 per cent female engineering faculties in Nepal while Pakistan and Bangladesh have 15 per cent each, India 15.4 per cent, Bhutan 17 per cent and Sri Lanka 27 per cent.

According to the newly established organisation, early exposure to STEM, role models and family support are the key enablers for the professional development of women but the absence of basic facilities and transportation for women restricts their job and training opportunities, especially in the field.

Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pravin Raj Aryal said that though female technical human resource have better opportunities in the country, they hesitate to go to the field.

Senior Director of Gender Global Themes Department at the World Bank Caren Grown said that the increasing number of women in organisation's Board of Directors would have positive impact on the Return on Equity.

Opened today with 150 attendees, including representatives of energy sector utilities and public agencies involved in projects, technical universities, women engineers, and students, the 2-day conference is co-hosted by the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

An ADB series of Gender Equality Diagnostic studies on the energy industry in South Asian countries has found that women’s skills and perspectives account for a small part of job and decision-making by energy sector agencies, said the multilateral donor in a press statement.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 February 2019. 

Melamchi prepares retendering for the remaining work

Kathmandu, Feb. 19:

Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB) is preparing for the retendering of the remaining works at the project including the headwork construction and flooring and finishing of the tunnels.

It is preparing tender documents and other required notices. “The preparation will be complete in a couple of weeks and a new tender will be announced to procure the new contractor,” said Rajendra Prasad Pant, Senior Divisional Engineer at the Board.

According to him, the project has recommended the ministry to adopt the fast track procurement process in order to complete the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded national pride project at the earliest.

Headwork construction, tunnel finishing, fitting the ventilation shaft, hydromechanical gates and monitoring equipment are yet to be executed. 

According to the board, it will take about nine-month to construct the headwork.

The project is now waiting for the new directives and guidelines from the Ministry of Water Supply (MoWS).

The much awaited project is in doldrums after the Italian contractor Co-operative Muratori e Cementisti (CMC) di Ravenna abandoned the project in December last year. The contractor has not shown any interest or returning to the site despite multiple efforts from the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) and the MoWS.

The MWSDB – implementing agency of the water transmission part of the project – had terminated the contract with the CMC after the latter failed to respond to the board’s communication efforts.

MWSP has achieved about 90 per cent progress after 16 years of its implementation. The project is delayed by a decade.

Published in The Rising Nepal Daily on 20 February 2019. 

Coops need strong regulation: KMC

Kathmandu, Feb. 6: A large number of saving and credit cooperatives (SACOS) in Kathmandu are deviated from the basic cooperative principles and legal rules which has created risks to the funds deposited and mobilised by the SACOS, a primary estimates of the Department of Cooperatives (DoC) at the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) concludes.

There are about 1,856 cooperatives in KMC of which 1,644 are SACOS. These cooperatives have mobilised shares amount of Rs. 7 billion, deposits of Rs. 52 billion and credits of Rs. 41 billion.

"In absence of strong regulation and adherence to the cooperative norms and principles, many cooperatives have financial anarchy which needs to be immediately addressed. Of the total cooperatives, only 450 have conducted their Annual General Assembly (AGM)," said Namaraj Dhakal, Head of the DoC.

The AGM is a mandatory annual meeting of a cooperative's shareholders where the management presents the financial and other information about the performance and strategy to the shareholders. Therefore, non-compliance to this provision means either the cooperative does not have financial discipline or there is the misappropriation of the fund or they do not have enough knowledge about the principles and norms of cooperatives.

Similarly, as this is the first year of the federalism implementation and the jurisdiction and regulation of the cooperatives has transferred to the local bodies, some of the co-ops are confused where to submit the report and information, said Dhakal.

According to the new provision, cooperatives operating in more than one district fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, cooperatives functioning in more than one local units are regulated by the provincial government and those working in a local body come under the local government.

But the local units do not have regulatory framework to regulate cooperatives. They also lack capacity for the same.

"The KMC wants to formulate a policy for the regulation of cooperatives to create cooperation between the agricultural and consumer co-ops but the absence of federal laws in the area has forced to stay behind," said Dhakal.

The metropolis has created computer software – COPOMIS - to update the details of cooperatives and make the regulation effective. Information of all cooperatives in the city has been digitalised and more than 400 co-ops are submitting their reports and documents online.

The KMC was investigating about 400 cooperatives that have registered but haven't run professionally.

Dhakal also said that the number of cooperatives would be brought down.

"Cooperatives which were inactive for more than two years would be shut and those who are evading the AGM would be forced to hold it as soon as possible. Likewise, cooperatives of the same area would be motivated to go for the merger. We cannot force for the merger but can pave the way for it," he said.

The cooperatives are notorious for charging exorbitant interest rates, mobilising a large amount loan to the directors and investing the money in share market and land.

"Cooperatives should contribute in employment generation and livelihood support but there are very few such instances in the Kathmandu Valley," said Dhakal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 February 2019. 

Private sector asks central bank to cut interest rate by 2 per cent

Kathmandu, Feb. 6: Businessmen have asked the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to cut the interest rate of refinancing by 2 per cent and bring down to 7 per cent.

They also demanded special refinancing facility for the manufacturing in order to support the sector's growth and its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"It is very difficult for the manufacturing sector to increase production and obtain the funds required for the expansion and development. Therefore, refinancing should be provided to them," said president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Hari Bhakta Sharma at an interaction on 'Current macro-economic and banking status' organised by the NRB.

He asked the central bank about the status of the Rs. 100 billion fund for the economic revival in the aftermath of the earthquake and urged it to make it functional at the earliest.

Likewise, vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Shekhar Golchha urged the NRB to intervene in the money market to address the fund crisis and control the soaring interest rate.

He pointed towards the need of the project financing to support the entrepreneurship growth and hedging provision to attract the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to reduce the foreign currency risk.

President of Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) Gyanendra Dhungana said that the market was suffering from the liquidity crunch and to ease the interest rate liquidity should be enough in the banking system.

He also said that refinancing facility should be enhanced to support the priority sector.

Dhungana suggested that the NRB should scrap the credit to core capital cum deposit (CCD) ratio and increase the lending capacity of the banks and financial institutions.

"If the CCD ratio provision is removed, Rs. 150 billion that has been frozen in the banking system will make its way to the market. However, refinancing is the long-term solution," he said.

The NRB organised the programme to collect suggestions from the private sector and banking industry on the eve of the mid-term review of the Monetary Policy for the Fiscal Year 2018/19.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on February 7, 2019. 

Israel organises volunteers day at Shanti Shikshya Mandir

Kathmandu, Feb. 6:

The Embassy of Israel in Nepal in cooperation with Shalom Club Nepal organised Volunteers’ Day on Wednesday at Shanti Shikshya Mandir Madhyamik Vidhyalaya, Thamel.

Basic food items like rice and lentils, sufficient for one year were donated for the children of the school.  In addition, sports materials were also handed over to the school and its premises were cleaned.

Expressing delightfulness and satisfaction, ambassador of Israel to Nepal Benny Omer said, “I believe that the best long-term investment of a leader is providing good education to the people in order to ensure a better future for the next generation and the future of the nation.”

Nabin Manadhar, chairman of Ward No. 17, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, said that the students used to come without having breakfast and it’s hard for the students to concentrate on their study. Now with the lunch provision, academic performance of the students would be improved.

Dr. Anjaan Shakya, Nepali Ambassador-Designate to Israel, wished that the Embassy would continue to do similar kind of activities in future.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on February 7, 2019. 

Govt to use soft power to push economic agenda

Kathmandu, Feb. 18: Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that the government would continue to harness the existing soft power and build on its strength for the long-term benefit of the country and people.

"The enormous international goodwill towards Nepal and Nepali people, ever expanding Nepali diaspora, our culture, civilisational heritage make our soft power and we will use it in the national interest," he remarked on Monday at the 71^st Anniversary Programme of Nepal Council of World Affairs (NCWA).

He emphasized that the mainstay of today's diplomacy is the pursuit of economic agenda and Nepal would strive to promote its vital economic interests through activities aimed at attracting more foreign investment in priority sector, expanding export trade and promoting tourism.

We will strive to widen the avenues of cooperation with our neighbours in conformity with our national interests and priorities, he said.

According to FM Gyawali, building on the hard-earned political stability, Nepal at present strives to achieve economic development and prosperity. The present Government is committed to bring economic transformation of the country and improve quality of life of the people.

Deliberating on the international conventions, he pointed towards the need of amending multilateral rules to support the 2030 agenda.

"We understand the multilateral rules and architecture are not perfect and they must be made fit-for-purpose to deliver on the global agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, we stand for timely and comprehensive reform of the United Nations for global peace, accountability and effective service delivery in view of the burgeoning global problems and dwindling resources," he said.

Likewise, he stressed on the implementation of the Paris Accord on Climate Change.

"Nepal firmly stands for the implementation of Paris Accord on Climate Change. Climate vulnerabilities of the countries like ours is real and we call for international community's substantial support in terms of climate finance and technology for adaption and mitigation," he said.

Similarly, Minister Gyawali said that the safety, security and wellbeing of Nepali migrant workers was a vital area for the government, and it was working with the countries of origin and destination through bilateral and multilateral processes.

President of the NCWA HemantaKharel said that Nepal should give utmost priority to the economic diplomacy so that it could enhance its international trade and attract more foreign investment and tourists.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 February 2019. 

NPC urges to increase budget on nutrition

Kathmandu, Feb. 18:

“Towards zero hunger in Nepal: A strategic review of food security and nutrition”,launched today by the National Planning Commission (NPC), makes a strong case for increased attention and investment in food security and nutrition.

It provides a consolidated picture of the food security and nutrition status, challenges, opportunities and recommendations towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger in Nepal by 2030.

The NPC said that in 2015 the Constitution of Nepal, enshrined the “right to food” of all citizens, and subsequently the government commitment to this was elaborated in the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act endorsed in 2018.

"As a part of the Government’s continued commitment, this report will be a key tool to support execution of this Act, with a specific action plan to achieve SDG2 targets to ensure that 'no-one is left behind'," it said.

The report was released by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population Upendra Yadav and Member of the NPC Dr. Krishna Prasad Oli.

DPM Yadav said that the review results were vital to promote access and availability to safe, nutritious and affordable food which the government promoted to be locally produced.

"By ensuring a holistic approach to increase local production that combines traditional food varieties with modern agricultural technologies, we now have the opportunity to improve the way we work together, so that every citizen has access to locally available, affordable and nutritious food and we achieve a nation free of hunger," he said.

Likewise, Dr. Oli said that the government now had the opportunity to strengthen political commitment both at the centre and the periphery, by including SDG2 and recommendations from the report in all national policies, plans, strategies and budgets at provincial and local levels.

The Strategic Review Report was produced by an independent study under the supervision of an inter-ministerial advisory group led by the NPC. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in collaboration with FAO and UNICEF, provided technical support for the strategic review process.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily.

Kathmandu, Feb. 18:

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the country has come at a juncture when people's decades-long aspiration of development and proepserity would be fulfilled.

Issuing a congratulatory message on the occasion of 69^th Democracy Day, he reiterated that the present government was committed to achieve the goal of 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali' with econoic and social transformation.

"We have defeated the autocratic regimes and dictatorships, and now launched a fight against poverty, unemployment, backwardness, social segregation and anti-development. We are heading towards a fully democratic society with econmic development and social justice," said the PM in his message.

He expressed tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their life while fighting against the tyrrannical Rana regime. He said that the very sacrifice had laid the foundation of new system and new constitution in the country. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 February 2019. 

Nepal wants more trade facilities from India: Gyawali

Kathmandu, Feb. 17

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Sunday said that Nepal wanted more trade facilities to control the burgeoning trade deficit with India. 

“We want more trade facilities, including removal all kinds of trade barriers. Early and comprehensive review of bilateral trade and transit treaty is also our priority,” he said while addressing a seminar on ‘Nepal-India relations: Issues, emerging trends and boosting cooperation’.

He said that infrastructure development was the priority of the government and urged India to support in roadways, cross-border railways, inland waterways and transmission lines.

According to him, infrastructure development is the priority in Nepal-India bilateral relationship.

“We need a huge investment in infrastructure and productive sectors to meet the goal of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ campaign. Therefore, we want sustainable investment in this area in the country,” said Minister Gyawali.

He appreciated robust collaboration with the southern neighbour in Nepal’s development efforts and economic inter-linkages.

He said that terrorism had become serious challenge in South Asia, which needed higher level of collaboration between the countries.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said that Nepal could be an automatic beneficiary of the growth happening in its neighbourhood.

“India is the fastest growing economy and will be among the top three largest economies in 15-20 years. Therefore, Nepal can be an immediate beneficiary of that growth. But Nepal should know how to draw benefits from it,” he said.

Stating that the two neighbours have informal and cordial relations, Puri said that with the formation of new stable government, the relations had achieved newer heights.

He also said that development and export of electricity would be the backbone of Nepal-India trade in future.

Nepal is one of the India’s top trading partners with about Rs. 600 billion annual trade.

“We value our economic relations tremendously,” he said.

Former Education Minister Chitra Lekha Yadav said that Nepal-India relationship was charecterised by eternal trust and cooperation which was becoming even stronger now.

Dr. DatteshPrabhuParulekar, Assistant Professor of Goa University, said that Nepal-India relation was based on mutual respect and shared prosperity. “The new initiative inland waterways connectivity has between Nepal and India has given a new beyond the border relations.”

The event was organised by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA).

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 February 2019. 

Ambassadors were urged to attract foreign investment

Kathmandu, Feb. 17: Newly appointed Nepali ambassadors have said that they would put their efforts to attract foreign investment to Nepal from the country of their appointment and work to expand strategic trade and investment relations with them.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) in their honour, they said to adopt innovative ways in economic diplomacy to drive investment to Nepal and work with the private sector in the days to come.

FNCCI President Bhawani Rana urged the ambassadors to work in close collaboration with the private sector and vowed for FNCCI’s support in every step of economic diplomacy implementation.

“You can play an instrumental role in updating the private sector investors in the country that you are going to represent Nepal about the business climate and potential investment areas here,” she said.

She requested them to promote Nepali culture, tradition and touristic attractions so that the tourists as well as the investors of those countries were motivated to come to Nepal.

Nepali Ambassador to Malaysia Udaya Raj Pandey, the United Arab Emirates Krishna Prasad Dhakal, France Deepak Adhikari, Kuwait Durga Prasad Bhandari, Canada Bhrigu Dhungana, Geneva Mani Prasad Bhattarai, Thailand Ganesh Prasad Dhakal and United Nations Amrit Rai were present in the programme.

They said that their efforts would be to find out the market of made in Nepal goods and urged the FNCCI to update them about the potential products that have markets in foreign countries.

Likewise, they said that private sector’s cooperation and support was needed to find bankable investment projects and in trade expansion.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 February 2019.  

PM asks BFIs to be flexible in interest rates

Kathmandu, Feb. 16: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Saturday assured the private sector that the government would look into the issues of high interest rates and regulate the rates at the earliest. 

“Mobilising loans with conditions and increasing interest rates at BFI’s discretion is not appropriate. The government will look into the issue and regulate it,” he said in a meeting with a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) led by its President Bhawani Rana at his residence at Baluawatar.

PM Oli directed the Finance Minister, Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, and Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal to listen to the problems of the business community and find solutions at the earliest. 

He urged the banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to show flexibility in the interest rates and give priority to investment to the productive sectors. 

There is a need to divert the investment in the areas that can generate employment opportunities and contribute to the national economy, he said 

“The BFIs should invest in the sectors that have high potential of employment generation, make the country self-reliant in certain goods and products, and help in increasing export or substitute import,” he recommended. 

“Your investment should contribute to the economy, therefore, you have to find such areas and be flexible in the interest rates while mobilising investment in those sectors. Invest more in agriculture and charge the minimum interest and reduce investment in luxury goods and charge higher interest rates,” he added. 

The financial system in the country is facing liquidity crunch since the last couple of years and large projects are facing difficulties in finding sufficient financing. 

Although the banking sector regulator, NRB has been putting its efforts to ease the interest, the shortage of money in the financial markets has forced the banks to give up to 12 per cent interest in the deposits which has pushed the interest in the loans higher than 14 per cent. 

The FNCCI delegation led by its President Rana has met the PM to inform him about the problems caused to the private businesses by the exorbitant interest rates of the BFIs and suggest the possible solutions to it. 

PM Oli assured the private sector that the government would create an environment for open market competition by breaking syndicates and cartels. “The government is ever ready and positive to listen to the private sector’s problems and address them in due time,” he said.

Rana said that the FNCCI found the government positive in addressing the investment challenges, especially the high interest rates. 

“We are hopeful that the government will work to ease the interest rates. The Finance Minister and Governor have also assured us to find amicable solutions,” she said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 February 2019. 

Roads Get Wider

The government has made significant progress in road infrastructure development in the last one year.

"About 708 kilometre road has been black topped while 878 km is gravelled and 717 km road track has been opened in one-year period after the formulation of the present government," said officials at the Department of Roads (DoR). Construction of 92 bridges is also completed. About 1,450 bridges are under construction across the country. 


Information Officer of the DoR Arju Suwal said that 70 km section of the Mid-Hill Highway was blacktopped, 67 km gravelled and 96 km new track was opened last year. 


Similarly, work has been expedited too at the north-south connectivity projects with 8 km track being opened in Hilsa-Simikot road, 29 km track at Koshi Corridor and 34 km at Kaligandaki Corridor.

Postal Highway has witnessed the blacktopping of 58 km section and gravelling of 176 km, and construction of seven bridges. 


According to the DoR, the 46 km-long Galchhi-Trishuli-Betrawati-Mailung road Nadaha-Koshi Bridge-Chatara-Rupnagar road, Leguwaghat-Bojpur road, Haleshi-Diktel road and Bhairahawa-Lumbini-Taulihawa road are moving ahead with desired speed and progress. 


Likewise, expansion of Butwal-Narayangarh (112 km) section of Mahendra Highway is in the final phase of tender. 


The government has completed the pre-feasibility study of tunnel construction at Siddababa in Siddartha Highway, and is evaluating tenders of Naubise-Nagdhunga tunnel road while a request has been sent to Japan government for the construction of Koteshwor-Jadibuti tunnel. 


Meanwhile, the DPR for the expansion of Naubise-Mugling and Mugling-Pokhara section of the Prithvi Highway is completed and the government has requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank for financing. 


National pride road projects are witnessing a sluggish progress for the last many years. The Postal Highway in Terai has achieved only 25 per cent progress in the last 11 years while the Mid-Hill Highway, which is considered as the backbone of development in the hill districts, has achieved 45 per cent physical progress in a decade. 

Likewise, the Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track is gradually achieving momentum. The Nepal Army – developer of the road project – recently said that there has been more than 25 per cent progress in the project. Army has almost finished opening the track, completed the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and made a significant progress in road construction at Nijgadh section. Army has set-up 10 field offices to manage the construction work and has hired multiple contractors to develop the 76-km long expressway at the cost of Rs. 111 billion. 


The Ministry of Finance has ensured that there wouldn't any shortage of funds for the large infrastructure projects and Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada has time and again said that he would manage budget for such projects even by transferring funds from the idle projects. 


Quality of roads


Road infrastructure in the country lack desired quality and standards while many of the projects being implemented are myopic and need upgrading in a decade or earlier. Still the government is constructing single lane bridges and narrow roads. Rural agricultural roads have become a major means to spend budget but are seldom taken care of in order to make them all weather roads. 

Absence of competitive laboratory and engineering monitoring has allowed the sub-standard works go unabated. Similarly, the low-bidding provision in the Public Procurement Act has become another hurdle in infrastructure development. As per the provision, the government has to award the tender to the lowest bidders and the latter takes the initial 20 per cent mobilisation cost and never appears in the project site. 


About Rs. 20 billion has been misappropriated in mobilisation cost. The DoR is implementing 906 projects and 242 of them are sick, according to a recent report published by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the anti-graft body in the country.

"There are no effective monitoring mechanisms at the implementing agencies. Quality control tools are rarely used," said the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT).


Legal instrument in the offing

The NPC said that the project managers, procurement process, poor planning and execution were the major reasons behind the pathetic progress at the national project. It had proposed to formulate an act to address these maladies and define the framework to select and execute the national pride projects but it’s yet to be realised.

In the National Development Action Committee (NDAC) meeting a month ago, NPC Vice-Chairman Prof. Dr. Pushpa Raj Kandel said that the provincial governments should coordinate with the local levels in order to expedite the works at the large infrastructure projects including the national pride projects. 

The NPC is creating a Project Information Management System to create an evidence-based database to support the development work in the country. Such system can create better coordination among the concerned development ministries and other government agencies. 

Similarly, the Public Expenditure Review Commission (PERC) has prepared recommendations for re-prioritising development projects. It has found that the selection of development projects without any set-standards, and finalisation of multi-year projects without the guarantee of resources, implementation without preparedness and action plan and misusing the project designs and tenders within the setting between the government agencies and contractors were the major hurdles in infrastructure development.

According to the DoR, Postal Highway, Madan Bhandari Highway, Mid-Hill Highway and other strategic roads will be completed within four years, and strategy has also been developed for the same. 

It also said that if additional Rs. 12 billion budget was provided, construction of about 400 bridges would be completed within the current fiscal year.

Published in the Special Supplement of The Rising Nepal Daily on 15 February 2019. 

Reconstruction of private houses to complete in two years

Kathmandu, Feb. 14:

Reconstruction of the private houses damaged in the devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake is likely to complete within two years from now – the remaining term of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA). 


About 400,000 families have applied for the third tranche of the housing reconstruction grant Rs. 150,000 which means more than half of the private houses have been either completed or in the last stage of construction. 


Each family that lost its shelter in the quake is entitled for Rs. 300,000 government grant.

According to the statistics of the NRA as of Wednesday, 365,358 families have completed the reconstruction of their houses and 590,039 houses are under the construction phase. 


"About 558,000 families have applied for the second installation of the grant. Following the NRA's deadline announcement to claim the first and second instalments of the grant by the end of the last fiscal year, many quake-hit families initiated the house building," said the reconstruction body. 


Likewise, the NRA's decision to mobilise the local bodies in the quake affected areas to facilitate and expedite the reconstruction of the damaged private houses and other physical structure has also helped in expediting the reconstruction process. About 282 local unites are in the quake affected areas. 


In September last year, it had urged the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration to mobilise the local representatives in the quake-hit areas and an NRA Steering Committee meeting set the deadline for claiming the second and third tranches of the reconstruction grant till mid-January 2019 and mid-May 2019 respectively. 


Heritage Reconstruction


With the settlement of the disputes in the reconstruction of Dharhara, Ranipokhari and Kasthamandap, the heritage rebuilding process has also achieved  the desired momentum in the past one year. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli recently laid the foundation stone of Dharahara, the historical monument that had been a symbol of the capital city. 


GIETC-Raman JV is rebuilding the Dharhara  in a new structure-- with 22-storey and extended setup – at a cost of Rs. 3.45 billion. 


Likewise, responsibility to reconstruct the Ranipokhari has been handed over to the NRA. Initially it was given to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC),but as it started to build the concrete walls, locals protested and the responsibility was given to the Department of Archaeology (DoA). 


But later another dispute erupted about the shape of the Balgopaleshwor Temple located at the centre of the historic pond. The DoA had approved the temple with dome shape, but the locals and experts demanded that the temple should be rebuilt in the original Shikhara style.  King Pratap Malla had built the pond and the temple. 


It has been decided that the temple will be built in Shikhara style. 


Similarly, the Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee has erected major pillars of the monument located at the Basantapur Durbar Square. The Kasthamandap is believed to be constructed from the wood of a single tree. The capital city is named after it. 


NRA Roadmap


NRA Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyawali said that the reconstruction of the private houses of the beneficiaries, who received the first instalment of the grant by the end of the last fiscal year, would be completed within this fiscal year. 


The reconstruction body has recently decided to provide the total grant to the families who completed the reconstruction of their house in the immediate aftermath of the quake, even before the formation of the NRA. 


Likewise, reconstruction of the houses for the vulnerable groups and landless people and houses in the heritage areas, and the grievance hearing will be completed before the end of the next fiscal year.

Relocation of the settlement at risks would be completed within the next fiscal year 2019/20. 


"About 25 projects of the integrated settlement would be approved within this fiscal and all reconstruction work will be concluded by the end of the next fiscal," said Gyawali. 


Similarly, the reconstruction of educational institution would achieve 70 per cent progress this year and 90 per cent will be completed next year. 


Rebuilding of health facilities, educational institutions and the government buildings will complete by 2021 November.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 February 2019.