Govt has appointed Sushil Gyewali as top officer for Authority eight months after the devastating earthquake
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KATHMANDU/BUTWAL, Dec 25: Finally, the government has appointed chief executive officer at the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) that will execute the overall tasks of reconstruction and rehabilitation in the districts ravaged by the April earthquake.
A cabinet meeting on Friday picked an engineer, Sushil Gyewali of Palpa district, for the key position in the Authority which grants him sweeping powers while carrying out the reconstruction of the quake-ravaged infrastructures such as heritage sites, public and private buildings. The same Authority will also oversee the tasks of rehabilitating thousands of displaced people in 14 most-affected and several other affected districts.
The government has appointed the key officer for the much-awaited Authority eight months after the earthquake struck the country.
The government was widely criticized for not bringing the much-needed body into function despite hundreds of thousands of quake victims living miserable lives in the hilly and mountainous parts of the country in the freezing weather.
The emergency cabinet meeting picked Gyewali for the key post to surprise many as he wasn't in the limelight at the national level.
Gyewali, who has been given the role of leading the national body, was executive director at the Town Development Fund that supports municipalities and various local bodies through long-term financing on social infrastructure and income generating projects, for the last four years.
Before that, he was technical advisor at Butwal Municipality, where he was a key engineer to transform the town into a well-planned city.
He also worked at the Association of Municipalities and the Lumbini Development Fund previously.
Impressed by his performance in changing the face of Butwal, Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel is believed to be the one behind lobbying for him for the coveted post of the NRA.
CPN-UML leaders said Gyewali was affiliated to the party's student wing when he was studying at Pulchowk Engineering Campus.
Officials working closely with him described Gyewali as a disciplined, competent and committed person.
The government however is yet to appoint other officials at the Authority, which is headed by the prime minister. An advisory council of the body is comprised of central leaders and lawmakers from the quake-affected districts.
After a long delay, the parliament passed the bill to form this body last week and the president subsequently endorsed it.
Meanwhile, the cabinet also appointed seven members of the National Planning Commission to give full shape to the commission. Dr Sumitra Amatya, Dr Kamananda Dev, Dr Chandra Kanta Poudel, Dr Sunil Babu Shrestha, Dr Geeta Nanda Joshi, Dr Kripa Sindhu Prasad and Bijay Bahadur Kunwar were appointed by the cabinet.
