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Govt sets up panel to oversee infra projects
The government has decided to constitute a high-level Infrastructure Monitoring and Directives Committee to ensure effective implementation of ongoing infrastructure projects and facilitate development of new ones.The government has decided to constitute a high-level Infrastructure Monitoring and Directives Committee to ensure effective implementation of ongoing infrastructure projects and facilitate development of new ones.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved the government’s plan for immediate, mid-term and long-term project development.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar heads the committee. Other members of the panel are Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and Minister for Information and Communication Technology Sherdhan Rai, Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, and Vice-chairman of National Planning Commi-ssion Yuba Raj Khatiwada.
“The committee will also make necessary recommendations to the government to arrange financial resources for the new projects and identify problems faced by the ongoing projects to facilitate them,” said Rai. The committee’s secretariat would be set up at the Finance Ministry.
Almost all mega projects have faced obstructions due to a shortage of construction materials. While imported materials have been stuck at customs points because of the India-imposed trade embargo, domestic production too has remained low.
Works at mega projects like Gautam Buddha International Airport, Tribhuvan International Airport, Sikta Irrigation Project, Rani-Jamara-Kulariya Irrigation Project, Tamakoshi Hydroelec-tricity Project, Chameliya Hydroelectricity Project and Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project have been badly affected.
Other projects facing problems are Postal Highway, Pushpalal (Mid-hill) Highway, trade highways, north-south highways and Kathmandu City Road Expansion Project.
Also, the government has not been able to expedite new projects like Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, regional international airport in Pokhara, and second international airport in Nijgadh.
The government has been criticised for selecting projects under pressure from different quarters without conducting feasibility studies, while a large number of government and oversight agencies involved in monitoring projects has slowed the decision-making process.
Minister Rai, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the committee would adopt measures for an effective coordination between and among the different concerned stakeholders to speed up project development.
The committee would recommend necessary policies and legal frameworks to the government and submit reports to the Prime Minister every week. The Cabinet also endorsed a two-year immediate reform work-plan 2015 for economic development, prosperity and good governance to meet development aspirations of the people as per the spirit of the constitution. The meeting decided to accept around Rs3.44 billion grant from the Japanese government for emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction of projects as committed during the International Conference on Nepal Reconstruction.
The meeting also decided to accept around Rs14.94 billion in financial and technical assistance from China, which the Chinese government had committed to provide during former President Dr Ram Baran Yadav’s Beijing visit.
The resources would be used for ‘inter-connected’ works to be carried out on the Dhulikhel-Tatopani section of the Araniko Highway.