Govt launches Urban Infra project with WB support

Kathmandu, Jan. 27

Government has launched Nepal Urban Governance and Infrastructure Project with the financial support from the World Bank (WB).

Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Dr. Ramesh Prasad Singh, and World Bank Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Lada Strelkova jointly launched the project on Wednesday.

The four-year project is financed by the WB to promote sustainable urban development and to support post-COVID-19 economic recovery in strategic secondary cities.

Aligned with Nepal’s federalism principles and the National Urban Development Strategy, the $150 million (Rs. 17.55 billion) project puts the municipalities at the forefront of project implementation with a focus on strengthening service delivery and institutional capacities in strategic secondary cities and supporting post-COVID-19 economic recovery through labour-intensive public works, the WB said in a statement.

“In the context of rapid urbanization, federalism, and the pandemic, delivering better urban services and responding to the needs of the population are critical. Given the urgent needs, result-oriented implementation of the project is required at all levels of government,” stated Dr. Singh.

He said that the project complements the government’s existing programmess and deepens the engagement on urban development through the establishment of dedicated funding for strategic urban infrastructure in the targeted cities. 

The project will be executed in 17 municipalities in two strategic urban clusters in the eastern region (Provinces 1 and 2) and western region (Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces).

“The selected municipalities are critical to Nepal’s economic development and are centres for commercial and administrative activities in those regions,” said the WB.

The project will also support 12 additional municipalities across seven provinces for labour intensive public works, as well as supporting four municipalities for capacity building.

Of the total credit, about 95 per cent is allocated to the local levels.

“As part of the World Bank’s COVID-19 response, the project will support over 20,000 of the most vulnerable and unemployed people at the local level to earn at least 50 days of wages through the generation of temporary employment opportunities in the maintenance and upgrading of public infrastructure,” stated Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 January 2021.