The government has begun the process of hiring staff for the US aid project Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which was passed by the federal parliament last Sunday.
In the first phase of the project, which will be funded by the US MCC, 10 employees have been demanded in various positions, according to the Ministry of Finance. The Millennium Challenge Account Nepal Development Committee (MCA Nepal) under the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday called for applications for 10 different posts.
The government claims that according to the concept set by the MCC, the work on the big project will be done on time and there will be no corruption.
The MCC compact was approved with a 12-point explanatory declaration from the meeting of the House of Representatives on February 3. What is the current process with the approval of the MCC agreement and when will the construction of infrastructure start? There is a curiosity among the people.
As per the agreement with the United States, after the MCC project moves forward, Nepal will receive about 500 million US dollars (about 60 billion rupees) in grant assistance from the US government within the next five years. From the grant, a 312km transmission line of 400KV capacity will be constructed.
Similarly, about 100 kilometers will be spent on road maintenance. Of the 500 million US Dollars received from MCC, 40 million US Dollars will be spent on power transmission line expansion and construction.
The transmission line starting from Nanlebhare of Kathmandu will be connected to Hetauda of Makwanpur from Ratmate of Nuwakot. Similarly, the transmission line will reach the Nepal-India border from Ratmate of Nuwakot via Damauli and Parasi of Tanahu. 850 towers will be constructed in that transmission line. MCC's 52 million dollars will be used to upgrade the road from East-West Highway to Shivakhola via Chandrauta, Dhankhola, Bhalubang, and Lamahi.
According to Khadga Bahadur Bista, Executive Director of Millennium Challenge Account Nepal Development Committee (MCA-Nepal) and other concerned stakeholders, a 315 km long transmission line will be constructed under this project. It will cover 92 wards of 30 municipalities in 10 districts.
Now, in order to implement it, the land acquisition should be done in some places. We have to work according to the Land Acquisition Act 2034 of Nepal. Now a committee has to be formed under the coordination of the concerned Chief District Officer to complete the work of this project on time.
The same committee determines the value of the land in the tribunal. Only then will the land come in the name of this project. According to the concerned stakeholders, this is the longest period of time. According to him, while doing such work, the work of counting trees is done in parallel. After that, it has to be approved by the Council of Ministers through the Forest Department, Ministry of Forest, and Land Conservation from the district. Then the tree is cut down. He said that such work is called side clearing work in the construction sector. According to him, the MCC is expected to introduce new technology in road maintenance in Nepal.
As per the traditional contract process till now, the Government of Nepal has been awarding contracts to the participants in the bidding process at low prices. Now the government should work for development by adopting a new way of working on this MCC model project. For which now the government should first give a number after technical evaluation. Then comes the next number of costs. In this MCC project, the process of awarding the contract to the one who gets the highest number will be added.
That means being technically qualified. The contractor is selected on the same basis. For which the contractor should be very capable. He said that the government should be able to come out of the belief that only those who submit bids at low prices will get the contract. Under the MCC, the United States is now transferring new technology to road maintenance in Nepal. Under the MCC, 'Full Depth Reclamation and 'Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement' (SuperPave) technology will be used for the first time in Nepal on a section of East-West Road.
According to the Millennium Challenge Account Nepal Development Committee (MCA-Nepal), Nepal's business is facing high costs due to poor road conditions, low effective transportation services, and inadequate roads.
If there is a problem due to insufficient resources for regular road maintenance, the method used for it is not in line with good international practice. Through the compact program under MCC, FDR technology is being introduced to repair such problem roads.
It is planned to repair/improve 77 km road from Bhaluwang of Dang to Shivkhola border of Banke through new technology. According to Khadga Bahadur Bista, Executive Director of MCA-Nepal, a study is being carried out on this road section. According to him, the use of FDR technology starting from this section will be used by the Road Department in other places in the future.
This technology, which is in use in the United States, will be able to be used elsewhere as needed after coming to Nepal. It is believed to be useful on our roads as it will be recycled and repaired from the base level.
