Money
IBN to sign Rs8b waste management contract
Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has prepared a draft of the project development agreement (PDA) it plans to sign with two companies that have been approved to manage solid waste in the Kathmandu Valley.Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has prepared a draft of the project development agreement (PDA) it plans to sign with two companies that have been approved to manage solid waste in the Kathmandu Valley.
Last April, IBN agreed to let Nepwaste and Clean Valley Company implement the Kathmandu Valley Integrated Solid Waste Management Project.
Nepwaste will undertake Package Number 1 of the project which includes solid waste management in Kathmandu metropolis and neighbouring VDCs while Clean Valley
will work in Lalitpur sub-metropolis, Kirtipur,
Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi municipalities and neighbouring VDCs under Package Numbers 2 and 3.
The estimated cost of
the project is Rs6 billion
for the first package and
Rs2 billion for the second and third packages.
Currently, a committee formed to start PDA negotiations with the two companies has been reviewing the draft PDA. The panel will send copies of the draft to the companies before starting negotiations, according to IBN.
The committee headed by IBN CEO Maha Prasad Adhikari includes the joint secretaries of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, executive officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), executive director of the Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre, senior divisional engineer of IBN, divisional head of KMC’s Environment and Management Department and under secretaries of the Finance Ministry and IBN.
“We will finalise the PDA and send it to Nepwaste and Clean Valley within a couple of weeks,” said IBN Under-Secretary Khagendra Rijal. “The committee is authorised to negotiate the terms and conditions of the PDA, such as the timeline for financial closure and operational details, and submit it to IBN to sign the final deal.” IBN is trying to close the deal as soon as possible, added Rijal.
The 23rd board meeting of IBN held on April 27 had given conditional approval to the detailed project reports (DPRs) presented by Nepwaste and Clean Valley Company.
The board gave conditional approval to the reports as it found some key issues missing. The first condition put forth by IBN pertains to ownership of valuables found in the waste. According to IBN, the government should have the ownership right over such valuables.
Likewise, other concerns of IBN were segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste at source and plans to manage hazardous waste. IBN has also asked the companies to come up with a plan to integrate the existing solid waste workforce of KMC and private operators in their projects.