Agreement to build Rasuwagadhi dry port signed

Chinese contractor to complete construction in 30 months

RASUWA, May 13: An agreement to build an inland container depot in Rasuwagadhi was signed on Sunday.

Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB) signed an agreement with a Tibetan construction company to build the dryport.

According to Pramod Acharya, a civil engineer of the NITDB, construction works will begin within a month. "The original plan was to begin works from September last year. But it couldn't materialize due to some technical issues,” he added. “Though construction works cannot be done during monsoon, we can import equipment, built camps, and quarters for workers, among others."

As the dry port is to be built with Chinese assistance, the board will only facilitate the construction process, according to Acharya. "Discussion on job distribution between Nepali and Chinese teams is going on right now," he added.

The Chinese construction company will build the dry port in two phases. The design of the works to be completed in the first phase has already been approved by the Nepali and Chinese governments. The government has already acquired necessary land for the dry port to be build in Timure of Gosainkunda Rural Municipality.

SOME LANDOWNERS STILL TO GET COMPENSATION

Though Nepal and China have already signed an agreement for construction of the dry port, some people, who gave their land and houses for the dry port, are still to receive compensation from the government.

According to officials of the board, they have not been able to provide compensation to the affected locals as the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies hasn't released additional budget for distribution of compensation.

District Compensation Determination Committee has sought Rs 3.02 million from the ministry for distribution of compensation for the remaining households. But the ministry has not released the budget yet.

According to committee, it is still to distribute Rs 1.85 million for land plots and Rs 1.24 million for houses acquired for the dry port.

Chief District Officer of Rasuwa, Arjun Bhandari, who heads the compensation determination committee, said that he has already written to the ministry for release of remaining compensation amount. "I am following up on the matter," he added.

The NITDB has acquired 8.5 hectares, including five hectares from Langtang National Park, for the project.

As per the agreement signed between Nepal and China, the northern neighbor will build the dry port and hand it over to Nepal. The design of the dry port was designed earlier on January 15 in Chinese city of Chengdu.

Nepal will have to provide security at the construction site, ensure that construction works go smoothly and provide customs tax waiver for import of construction equipment.

The design of the project has been prepared by Architectural Reconnaissance and Design Institute of Tibet. The dry port will have a parking lot, warehouse, administrative building, check post, bank and laboratories, among others.

The dry port will have a five-storied administrative building spread over 5,000 square meters, warehouse sprawled over 750 square meters, and two checking areas spread over 2,080 square meters.

The construction work is expected to be completed within 30 months.