KATHMANDU:, March 30--Contractors have warned of launching protests saying that the government has failed to implement the 45-point agreement reached four years ago. They have said that the government’s negligence towards their concerns has been hitting their businesses hard.
The two-day long 16th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN), in Nepalgunj, has also issued a 23-point Nepalgunj Declaration. The AGM that concluded on Saturday decided to form a struggle committee under the coordination of FCAN President Jayaram Lamichhane to put pressure on the government to address their demands and launch a protest programme.
FCAN has said that even though the government had agreed to remove contractors’ pre-bidding qualification to bid for projects costing up to Rs 20 million, it has so far failed to do so. FCAN has condemned the provision that allows consumer committees to undertake projects worth up to Rs six million without competition and urged the government to limit the amount to Rs 500,000.
Similarly, contractors have also condemned the government’s decision to stop providing 20 per cent mobilisation cost for projects in advance. They have said that the government must allocate the mobilisation cost ranging from 20 per cent to 75 per cent depending on the nature of the projects.
Amid growing problems of low bidding in government projects, contractors also decided to demand that the government formulate a policy that requires the selection of the tender based on average cost and not on lowest cost basis as provisioned in the Public Procurement Act. Article 25 of the Act states that projects must be awarded to the party that bids lowest.
As per the Nepalgunj Declaration, the government has to ensure easy availability of construction materials like sand and aggregate, adjust the project cost based on inflation rate, recognise construction sector as an industry, bring packages to ensure jobs to 16,000 small contractors, end unprofessional interference in the sector, and remove quotation system of project works costing up to Rs 500,000, among others. -
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Roads Dept seeks Rs 7.66b to maintain strategic roads
KATHMANDU, JUN 09 -The Department of Roads has asked the government to allocate Rs 7.66 billion in the next budget for its road maintenance programme. The funds will be used to improve more than 8,000 km of road s under the strategic road network (SRN) in fiscal 2013-14.
The department presents its estimated budget requirement by calculating a specific size before the start of each fiscal year. However, the government has been regularly providing less than the department’s request citing lack of funds. Last year, the government earmarked Rs 2.71 billion against the Rs 8.34 billion demanded by the department. Normally, the government focuses on routine and recurrent maintenance work. Resources for other major maintenance work including periodic and backlogged projects, reconstruction, rehabilitation and upgrading are allocated on a low priority basis.
“Periodic, specific maintenance and road rehabilitation have not received the attention of the government which ultimately increases the backlog of maintenance work and expenses,” said Kailash Kumar Shrestha, senior divisional engineer of the department. He added that the department was getting funds for routine and recurrent road improvement activities as per its demand.
Out of the total budget request, Rs 3 billion has been planned to be spent on routine and recurrent maintenance. Dan Kumar Shakya, engineer at the Maintenance Division of the department, said that most of resources requested were for rehabilitation and reconstruction work. “We have been assured a budget ceiling of Rs 4 billion for road maintenance for the next fiscal as the spending is less in the current fiscal year,” he added. Periodic maintenance is carried out every five to seven years, while reconstruction and rehabilitation is done based on the condition of the road . The department stated that the total budget requirement for the next fiscal was lower than last year as donor agencies like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank were providing funds for rehabilitation in some road projects.
The department is responsible for keeping the country’s 14,488 km of road s under the SRN in good condition to ensure safe travelling. Lack of sufficient funds, overloaded vehicles and poor quality of maintenance work have been cited as the major reasons behind the poor condition of Nepal’s highways. An official at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport said that the condition of the road s would not improve until the government focuses on maintenance and stops giving money for local road s under pressure from political party leaders.
Railway Ordinance: Prez clears deck for Railway Board
KATHMANDU, APR 22 - President Ram Baran Yadav endorsed the Railway Ordinance on Sunday, clearing the deck for forming the Railway Board, an autonomous body for development of the railway sector in the country. The board will develop, expand, operate and manage the sector.
President Yadav certified the ordinance in accordance with the Article 88 Sub-article 1 of the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007. The ordinace enacted the Railway Act which is the amendment to the Railway Act 1963. The board to be chaired by the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport will make policy level decisions for the railway sector in close collaboration with the government authorities.
“There will be a new legal base for the railway sector which is in initial phase of the railway infrastructure development,” said Yogendra Rai, director general at the Department of Railways. He said that the Act would help speed up works for construction as the government was planning to carry out big railway projects.
The government is currently working on railway plans like Mechi Mahakali Electrical Project, Metro Rail in the Kathmandu valley and cross-border railway links with India. Laws related to the railway service have not been updated since the time of the Nepal Government Railway in the mid 1960s.
According to the Physical Infrastructure Ministry, the Department of Railways would be transformed into the Railway Board. Earlier, despite lack of proper legal framework, the government had formed the Department Railways, signed an agreement with India to build five cross-border rail links and expedited a detailed project report study of Mechi-Mahakali railway .
The government has also been considering carrying out a feasibility study on North-South railway links with a target to connect two neighbouring countries—India and China—as part of Trans-Asia Railway Network. In December 2011, Nepal had agreed to be a part of the railway network that will connect the country with railway networks in Europe, enabling uninterrupted movement of people and goods.
Experts said the new act and autonomous body would fast track railway works. “Roads have put other mode of transport in shadow,” said Lal Krishna KC, a transport sector expert. He said that it had been necessary to give railway interconnection to road networks like East-West Highway and North-South roads devising an integrated transport sector development plan.
Govt set to invite DPR proposals for 420-km Butwal-Gaddachwoki section
KATHMANDU, APR 18 -The government is set to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of yet another section of the Mechi-Mahakali Electric Railway. The Department of Railways is preparing to invite Request for Proposal (RFP) from short-listed international consulting firms soon.
According to the department, it will invite the RFP for 420km Butwal-Gaddachowki sector which also includes a 14km-long link railway route that connects Kohalpur with Nepalgunj. Butwal-Gaddachowki is the fourth section after Basdibas-Simara, Timara-Tamsaria and Tamsaria-Butwal-Bhairahawa sections on which the government is preparing the DPR for construction.
“We have already short listed four eligible consultants for each package and are preparing to call the RFP from them soon,” said Rajeshwor Man Singh, superintendent engineer of the department. Eight consortiums of around two dozen companies from South Korean, Germen, Italian, Spanish, Austrian, Indian and Nepali have been short listed for the DPR.
The DPR will include a detailed design of the railway routes, other infrastructure required alongside the route, cost estimation and bid documents for construction.
The department officials said that the detailed study of the Butwal-Gaddachowki section would be carried out in four packages—115km Butwal-Lamahi, 102km Lamahi-Kohalpur and 14km Kohalpur-Nepalgunj link, 94km Kohalpur-Sukhkhad and 94km Sukhkhad-Gaddachowki.
Dohwa Engineering Co Ltd (South Korea), ILF Consulting (Austria), Rites Limited (India), Italfeer SpA (Italy), Gauff Rail Engineering GmbH Co (Germany), SENER Ingeneria y Sistemas SA (Spain) and Full Bright Consultancy (Nepal) are among the firms applying for the DPR of Butwal-Gaddachowki section.
Rites of India which had conducted the feasibility study for whole of the Mechi-Mahakali railway , also known as East-West railway project, estimated the project cost at Rs 800 billion.
Meanwhile, the DPR of the first section Bardibas-Simara and its link route Simara-Birgunj was completed by South Korean consultant.
The report shows the construction of the Bardibas-Simara (including of the link route) would cost up to Rs 99 billion depending on facility, safety measures, quality and level of service to be incorporated in the railway construction plan.
The government for long has been planning of developing railway as an alternative means to land transport for faster and cheaper transport service.
The government’s plans on railway sector include construction of new railway lines in the country which include 945km Mechi-Mahakali Railway, 259km Pokhara-Kathmandu railway including extension to Mechi-Mahakali railway and 113km six connection links from Mechi-Mahakali Railway to Indian Railway network.
Survey started to widen section of Ring Road
KATHMANDU, APR 05 -The government’s plan to widen the Kathmandu valley’s Ring Road has gained momentum with the Chinese contractor starting a survey to widen two 1-km-long stretches on the Koteshwor-Kalanki section.
Under the project, the Balkhu River-Kalanki and Ekantakuna-Koteshwor stretches will be expanded as a model in the first phase. Based on these samples, the rest of the 9-km section targeted for development will be widened, said Ashok Tiwari, chief of Ring Road Widening Project.
He added that the road would be upgraded to eight lanes with a four-lane main road, a two-way service lane, two-way bicycle track and two-way pedestrian path.
The road widening plan also includes improving three intersections, bus stations and parking lots. The three junctions—Kalanki, Satdobato and Koteshwor—will be improved for uninterrupted operation of vehicles. Under the Ring Road improvement plan, the government plans to upgrade the whole road in three phases with China’s annual grant assistance.
Based on the contract signed with the Chinese contractor Shanghai Construction Group Company, the government will also be providing space to build a camp for the contractor’s office, housing facility for its workers and a station for their machinery and equipment. The government has selected Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited’s (KUKL) land in Lalitpur for this purpose.
“The Chinese contractor will soon start setting up its camp,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
According to him, as soon as the camp building work is completed, additional teams will arrive in Nepal to work on the road widening project.
Ministry officials said that it would take around 40 months for the contractor to complete the work of widening the 9 km stretch. As part of the preparations, the government has directed the KUKL, Nepal Electricity Authority and Nepal Telecom to relocate their service lines built on either side of the road.
On Wednesday, the Kathmandu Valley Development Committee’s district commissioners’ offices of Kathmandu and Lalitpur also issued a 15-day public notice to clear a 31-m width on the Koteshwor-Balkhu-Kalanki stretch.
In February 2011, the government had agreed to widen the road utilizing a grant assistance from China.
However, the road improvement and widening plan had slowed down due to procedural matters. In December last year, the department and the Chinese contractor signed a pact to upgrade the 9-km Koteshwor-Kalanki stretch of the 27-km Ring Road.
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