Kathmandu, June 20
Donors and development partner organisations have
expressed they will extend support to the revised programmes and financial plan
for the fiver-year plan for post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation
that costs Rs. 630 billion.
They exhibited their readiness to support Nepal in
post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the meeting of
National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)'s Foreign Aid Coordination and
Facilitation Committee on Thursday.
According to the NRA, new revised estimates of the
total reconstruction cost for the properties damaged by the 2015 Gorkha
Earthquake is Rs. 630 billion about Rs. 308 billion less than the primary
estimates made in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
The reconstruction body in consultation with the
Ministry of Finance in 2016 had published the revised estimates of the total
reconstruction cost at Rs. 938 billion.
Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali
said that the new estimates were made after reducing the budget of the
infrastructure like water supply, roads and bridges that would be built by the
government and reconstruction of private houses and other structures by the
national and international Non-Government Organisations.
"Rs. 630 billion is the budget that is
implemented by the NRA alone," he said.
The NRA statistics show that about Rs. 291 billion
will be spent by the end of the current fiscal year 2018/19. Finance Minister
Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada has allocated Rs. 141 billion budget for reconstruction
related works for the next fiscal.
"There is a financial gap in reconstruction and
rehabilitation. We are in consultation with the Finance Ministry and
development partners in an effort to arrange funds," said Gyawali.
The reconstruction body had urged the development
partners to extend additional support in implementing economic and livelihood
programmes, localizing the disaster management work, and rebuilding of heritage
settlement and urban structure.
The meeting has emphasised amending the National
Building Code and implementing it to the local levels.
Meanwhile, Nepal is holding an international
conference to impart the knowledge, experience and learning it earned during
the post-quake reconstruction and rehabilitation to the international
community.
"We have set some good models in the
post-disaster reconstruction and management which can be replicated elsewhere
in the world," said Gyawali.
Acting Country Manager of the World Bank Kene
Ezemenari appreciated the progress in reconstruction.
Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation
to Nepal Ovidiu Mic said that the EU would continue to provide support to Nepal
in reconstruction.
Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India Dr.
Ajaya Kumar said that India was working to provide the support it committed in
the past. Likewise, representative from the Embassy of China in Kathmandu
expressed Chinese commitment for necessary support in the future.
Similarly, the Department for International
Development (UK), USAID, Asian Development Bank and Japan International
Cooperation Agency also showed their readiness in helping Nepal in the
post-quake reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 June 2019.
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