KATHMANDU, Feb 4: Chief Executive Officer of the newly-formed National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Sushil Gyewali, has proposed to convene a second international donor conference to collect additional funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed by the earthquakes last year.
CEO Gyewali floated the proposal during a presentation to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and various other ministers at the prime minister's official residence at Baluwatar on Wednesday.
Stating that the earthquakes caused losses amounting to Rs. 706 billion and that it would require a total of Rs. 669 billion to restore the damaged structures, he said additional financial support from the international communities is required to complete this task.
An international conference on earthquake reconstruction in Nepal was hosted by the previous government in June to appeal for support from neighboring and other friendly countries and development partners and international bodies involved in Nepal's development activities.
Various countries and international donor agencies announced that they would provide aid for the reconstruction and rehabilitation initiatives to be taken by Nepal. The total pledged by them stood at Rs. 412 billion.
CEO Gyewali, stating that the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) was prepared with the concept of reconstruction of destroyed structures, said additional funds are needed to execute the tasks with a concept of going for new creations as well.
"A five-year reconstruction and rehabilitation plan will be prepared by April next year," he said in his 24-page presentation. "And for this, a second international donor conference needs to be convened to collect additional financial aid."
The proposal comes at a time when the government and the NRA are being widely criticized for failing to carry out any tangible work bringing a measure of relief to earthquake victims in the 14 most affected districts who have been living under pathetic conditions in make-shift huts.
Meanwhile, a retired top bureaucrat has dismissed the proposal as "nonsense" as it is being floated without having made any progress toward utilizing the funds already pledged by the international community.
"Had the government done something to provide relief to the earthquake victims by now, it would be rational to some extent to seek more support from international agencies. But asking for more money without making any progress on the ground is ridiculous," the retired bureaucrat told Republica. He, however, declined to be named as the government is yet to make the proposal public.
Gyewali also said the task of restoring local infrastructure and buildings should be done through local community organizations, and proposed to raise the limit for budgets to be provided to local consumer organizations from 6 million to 20 million.
He said the existing 143 settlements that are at risk will be shifted to safer locations and developed as integrated settlements under an economic rehabilitation package.
"Reconstruction of private buildings will be done by the proprietors themselves and the government will provide financial and technical support for that," he said. "Local schools and health posts will be rebuilt through the concerned management committees as far as possible."
The regulations and work procedures are being finalized and NRA will forward them to the cabinet for endorsement shortly, he said.
"The survey tasks will be completed by March 25," Gyewali said. "Reconstruction tasks will be started in each VDC by April 24, 2016."
According to him, the reconstruction of rural settlements will start from Dolakha district on February 24.
He further informed that some 600 engineers have been mobilized in each affected district for doing detail surveys, and another 430 are being trained.
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