The new bus park will not only have more space for passenger vehicles, but will also have hotels, restaurants, commercial complex and rest rooms. For years now, the bus park has been running without proper facilities.The Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office (KMC) has recently signed a contract with Lhotse Multipurpose Pvt Ltd to complete the project within four years.
"Naya Bus Park should have had all these facilities by now but the project never took off. Now we are pretty much hopeful as a new contract has been signed," said Mahesh Kafle, information officer at KMC.
The same construction company had been awarded the contract for the upgrade of the bus park in 1999. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had provided financial assistance for the construction of the bus park. However, the bus park was never completed as per its design.
Even the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had intervened after the construction was delayed. The construction work had then gathered momentum, but the project was never completed.
According to Kafle, the previous contractor had failed to construct the bus park as per its design.
"The project only focused on building houses and restaurants. It clearly shows that the contractor was interested only in making money. The focus now should be diverted toward providing better services to the public," said Kafle.
The contractor has been operating the bus park since 2000 under public-private partnership model. Lhotse will hand over the bus park to KMC after 45 years and pay altogether Rs 9.8 million to Kathmandu Metropolitan City by then.
As per the new deal, the bus park after its completion will be able to accommodate at least 800 passenger buses. Currently, the bus park accommodates only 450 buses.
"Naya Bus Park in the coming years will have all the public facilities," said Kafle.
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