KATHMANDU, Jan 11: In a bid to speed up implementation of national pride projects, the government on Friday inked performance contracts with the chiefs of three irrigational projects, namely, Sikta, Babai and Rani Jamara-Kulriya.
“This is part an effort made toward speeding up all the 14 national pride projects,” said Krishna Hari Baskota, secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM). [break]
Irrigation Secretary Pratap Kumar Pathak said the chiefs of all three irrigation projects signed the performance contract. “Dilip Bahadur Karki, Abdhesh Chandra Jha and Maheshwore Narsingh KC signed the performance contract for Sikta, Rani Jamara Kulriya and Babai respectively,” said Pathak.
The signing of the performance contract has paved the way for implementation of the project. “This agreement also ensures continuity of the terms of project chiefs and their teams till the end of fiscal year 2012/13,” said Baskota. Baskota further added that this is part of the government´s plan to introduce reforms in the management of national pride projects.
Baskota further assured that the government would not allow obstructions in the implementation of the projects. The three projects would irrigate a total of 59,100 hectares of cultivable land in districts such as Banke and Bardiya of the Tarai.
According to Pathak, the irrigation projects would be taken ahead smoothly as performance contract for the projects have already been signed.
The government is developing two projects -- Babai and Sikta -- on its own while the Rani Jamara-Kulriya irrigation project is being developed under assistance from the World Bank. The estimated cost of each of these projects is over Rs 4 billion.
Similarly, the government has planned to ink performance contracts for other national pride projects in the immediate future. “The performance contract for projects such as Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, Mid-Hill Highway, Postal Highway and North-South Highway will also be signed within a week,” said Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management (MoPPWTM).
Additionally, Energy Secretary Hari Ram Koirala has said that the performance contract for Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower and Budi Gandaki Hydropower will also be signed soon.