KATHMANDU, Feb 9: Nepali Congress (NC) President Gagan Thapa has emphasized the need for policy reforms to tackle long-standing challenges in infrastructure development. In a video message released on Monday. He outlined seven areas that require improvement to ensure effective and timely project completion.
Citing examples such as the Melamchi drinking water project, which took 25 years to complete, delays in the Narayangadh-Butwal road, the East-West Highway, and fast-track projects, as well as the repeated digging of city roads, Thapa argued that these inefficiencies not only increase costs but also hamper the country’s economic productivity.
Infrastructure development key to propel growth
He clarified that intimidation of contractors, ministers giving personal instructions, or threats like “carrying the key” will not solve the problem, highlighting that the issue is systemic.
To address these challenges, Thapa proposed amending or repealing more than three dozen laws, including the Road Act and the Public Procurement Act, to remove outdated provisions. He stressed the importance of preventing political interference in project selection, prioritizing projects based on cost-benefit analysis, and giving preference to contractors who can deliver quality work quickly at lower costs.
Thapa also emphasized good governance, transparency, social audits, and technical evaluations, and warned against declaring projects as “national pride” without proper planning. He advocated for expanding new financial models, such as public-private partnerships and hybrid annuity schemes — a smart model for road construction where risks and costs are shared between the government and contractors — and called for independent monitoring mechanisms to ensure accountability.
Thapa claims that the NC can bring a transformative change to the country’s infrastructure sector in the next five years, asserting that projects that would normally take 10–12 years can be completed within just 1–2 years with quality execution.
