KATHMANDU, June 6: Minister for Finance, Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, has said that the grant provided to earthquake victims for reconstruction of private houses should be spent in a transparent manner as the grant was provided after taking loan from donors.

Inaugurating a seminar organized by National reconstruction Authority on Wednesday, Finance Minister Khatiwada said that the government has given first priority to reconstruction of private houses.

He said, ” House owner themselves should take activeness to reconstruct their houses as the government has been providing grant after taking loan from donor agencies. It is the responsibility of house owners to construct their houses.”

The Finance Minister added that the NRA was ready to resolve problems surfaced in course of reconstruction. He said that the Nepal Rastra Bank and NRA would make criteria to ease the process for concessional loan said to be given for reconstruction.

Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of NRA, Yubraj Bhusal, said that out of 102,000 houses should be reconstructed in Kathmandu Valley, 10,000 have already been reconstructed and process began to construct other 25,000 houses.

He said, “Still 15,000 quake victims are remaining to sign agreement for the reconstruction of houses. This program is organized to solicit feedback from people’s representatives to resolve problems surfaced in this regard.”

Presenting a progress detail made so far in the reconstruction sector, NRA Spokesperson Krishna Prasad Dawadi and Joint-Spokesperson Manohar Ghimire said that a total of 161,000 houses have so far been reconstructed across the nation.

Mayors of Kageshwori Manohara and Dakshinkali municipalities—Krishna Hari Thapa and Mohan Basnet said that the real earthquake victims are still out of the list of beneficiaries.

Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives, Gopinath Mainali, Chief of District Coordination Committee, Kathmandu, Shiva Sundar Baidya, also expressed their views. RSS

KATHMANDU, Nov 9: Reconstruction works of the Ranipokhari has resumed after a hiatus of four months.

Executive Officer at Kathmandu Metropolis, Dhaniram Sharma, directed the construction company to accelerate the reconstruction. As per the agreement, the construction company had to accomplish the first phase of the work within last mid June.

As the time has not been over for the reconstruction, it was yet to be completed. So, the construction company was directed for it, said Sharma.

Director of the company, Worldwide Kandel KNKJ JV, Arjun Kandel however said the reconstruction was delayed all because of the Kathmandu Metropolis.

The Metropolis did not provide the design for the reconstruction. He, however, said the company would accomplish the remaining works within the next three months.
The Department of Archaeology, in Bhadra 2073, had told the company that it would itself construct the Balgopaleshwor Temple though the agreement was made with company.

But the reconstruction of the Temple is still awaited.

Ranipokhari carries a historic significance. It is said in the eighteenth century then King Pratap Malla had constructed the pond to rid his wife off grief for she was aggrieved over the demise of her youngest son. RSS

POST-QUAKE RECONSTRUCTION LAGGING BEHIND DUE TO ADEQUATE TECHNICAL HUMAN RESOURCES

KATHMANDU, Oct 25: Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Yubraj Bhusal has expressed his commitment to provide a new home to all the homeless families who are still living in the makeshift shelters before monsoon starts.

Thousands of families rendered homeless in the devastating earthquake of April 2015. But the post-quake reconstruction has failed to gain momentum even three years after the quake. “It is our target to resettle the thousands homeless families from their tents to their new homes before next July,” said Bhusal while speaking during an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Wednesday.

Bhusal reasoned that post-quake reconstruction efforts were still lagging behind in lack of adequate technical human resources and pledged to recruit and train technicians as required by the rural municipalities and municipalities across the country for the same.

He said, “One of the major setbacks to the post-quake reconstruction work is lack of competent and skilled manpower at local levels. Our first step will be deploying qualified technicians to every station of the local units before mid-December. It will obviously gear up the reconstruction works,” he further added.

According to him, of the total 1100 technicians selected for the reconstruction effort, more than 900 had placed their requests to retain them in the Kathmandu Valley. “Since a majority of the technicians are city-centered, the reconstruction drive in the remote areas is still a distant dream,” Bhusal argued.

In reference to the international donors’ conference held in 2015 in the wake of the Gorkha Earthquake, he said that the NRA could organize similar kind of conference yet again if need be.

The newly appointed CEO of NRA clarified that the reconstruction drive was not affected due to financial constraints but due to failure to mobilize the resources in the Authority.

He shared that the NRA had ensured the release of more than Rs 1.49 billion fund in the current fiscal year for the reconstruction of 767,000 houses. More than 87,000 quake-survivors have received the second installment of total Rs 300,000 relief assistance.

Bhusal also said that he would fulfill his responsibility without coming under pressure from any political parties or influence.

He said, “I have no any political background. During these three years tenure, I will serve my people honestly while focusing the entire energy on the reconstructions.”

“People need result. Unless a homeless a relocated to a new home, we can call it a success. I pledge relief to every affected family,” added Bhusal.

GORKHA, July 19: Reconstruction of the historic Gorkha Palace based in Gorkha district has begun. The palace with historic, religious and archaeological importance, had suffered extensive damages during the Gorkha Earthquake that rattled the country on 25th April, 2015.

The palace would be reconstructed from its foundation, according to the Gorkha Palace Caretaking Section. Now we can see the palace surrounded by the corrugated zinc sheets as its dismantling is going on. The Department of Archaeology has allocated Rs 505 million to the section to undertake the reconstruction works.

The palace dating back to 400 years will be restored to its original form, Section Staff Rameshwor Kattel said.

Giving reaction to the commencement of the rebuilding works, palace main priest Pradeepnath Yogi said he including other priests were happy to see the beginning of palace reconstruction. The palace developed cracks on its walls and its yard caved-in the quake.

The quake inflicted damages to Gorakhkali Temple, Gorakhnath Cave, Chaughera Palace and other structures. Guru Gorakhnath is respected as the ancestral God (Kuldevata) of the (ex) royal families.

The palace, the birthplace of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal, has a significant value in multiple terms. However, the Gorakhnath Cave and some other structures were repaired earlier.

Bearing in mind the ongoing reconstruction works, public will not be allowed to worshipping at the temple for a month. However, the temple will continue its regular rituals.

It is expected to take three years to complete the reconstruction works. RSS