When Sankhuwasabha was not connected to any highway, some locals, who well understood the importance of movement for development, had taken a jeep to Tumlingtar by helicopter and operated a service along a 14 kilometer stretch from Katle Bhanjyang to Khandbari. [break]
With the construction of a concrete bridge over the Sabha Khola, motor transport in Sankhuwasabha will not have to face any hurdles from now onwards.
Similarly, another bridge over the Arun River, which was constructed with support from the UK to boost transport in the eastern hills of Koshi zone, will be inaugurated next month. Once the Arun River bridge comes into operation, various road stretches in Sankhuwasabha, Khotang, Bhojpur and Dhankuta districts, which altogether comprise 280 km, will be connected with one another.
The Sabha Khola bridge, for which DfID, the Department for International Development, spent 3 million pounds sterling under its Agriculture Access Road Program (ACRP), has been built using steel manufactured in the UK. The UK government has allocated 36.5 million pounds sterling to build, upgrade and maintain the agriculture roads over the next four years.
After inaugurating the Sabha Khola bridge, British Minister Duncan, referring to the recently-departed former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, also known as the Iron Lady, said, "This bridge is as strong and beautiful as the Iron Lady herself. After building this bridge, my ministry finds itself more encouraged to help Nepal in development works."
Duncan said that the Sabha Khola bridge would boost economic activities in the eastern hills by linking hundreds of kilometers of local agriculture roads with Tumlingtar airport and the Arun Hydropower project.
Local Development Minister Mallik thanked the UK for its support in developing infrastructure in rural Nepal.
After delivering his formal speech, Mallik also talked about the present political situation. He said, "The foremost responsibility of the Chief Justice-led government is to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA). No one needs to doubt its commitment to holding the CA polls just because it has so far failed to announce the election date. We will definitely hold the CA polls in November. Only the exact date remains to be fixed now."
He added, "Justices deliver verdicts after quietly listening to everyone´s arguments. As ours is a CJ-led government, we are now listening to arguments coming from various corners. We will announce the election date only after listening to everyone´s opinion."
"Our government has experienced public servants as ministers and we will work honestly to fulfill our duty," he said.
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