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Kathmandu Sunday July 08, 2001 Ashadh 24, 2058.
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Road sector performance
bleak
By Prem Khanal
KATHMANDU, July 7 - In yet another
reoccurrence of the years-old trends, most of the prioritized road projects announced in
the budget for current fiscal year will remain uncompleted this year again as a result of
chronic problem in implementation level.
The gloomy picture in completion of the road
project comes despite reasonable and timely sanction of budget by the government in road
construction and renovation, widely regarded as one of the powerful tools for fighting
regional disparity, and hence containing the worsening poverty situation.
The performance of the road projects, for the
current fiscal year has been, as usual, frustrating. The Department of Roads managed to
complete the construction of only 150 kilometers (kms) in the first eight months of the
current fiscal year, against the target of 400 kms. Concerned official says that this
figure too is estimated and come down after the completion of progress evaluation of the
current year.
The current year’s targets for blacktop,
graveled and earthen roads are 30, 150 and 190 kms, whereas the progress in the first
eight months was just 55, 50 and 45 kms respectively.
Similarly, not much headway has been made in
the first three years of the five-year Ninth Plan. The five year plan had aimed to extend
road connection to 12 district headquarters, whereas the achievements so far is the road
connection to just two of the districts, that too with seasonal ones.
Although the achievement so far is
depressingly low, the release of budget for the different road projects, however, has been
remained satisfactory. Concerned officials say that almost the whole of the budget
allocated for the current year for road construction would be spent by the end of the
current fiscal year.
The government has allocated Rs 5.52 billion
for road projects throughout the kingdom. Sources at the department informed that only Rs
700 million of the total allocated funds would not be released this fiscal year, as 60 per
cent of the second Agriculture Loan Program and 34 per cent of the Debt Relief Fund funded
by the Asian Development Bank and the Japanese government respectively, are yet to be
released.
Rajendra Prasad Pradhananga, Chief of
Evaluation and Monitoring Section of the department, informed that generally around 75 per
cent of the total allocated budget are spent. As per this trend, it is expected that over
Rs 4.14 billion would be spent, which is higher than the actual expenditure of Rs 3.90
billion realized last year.
Minister of Finance Dr Ram Sharan Mahat
speaking at an interaction program last week, had also publicly expressed deep
dissatisfaction over the dismal performances seen in the road construction sector.
"Despite uninterrupted timely sanction of the budget, achievement, so far, is very
gloomy."
According to the concerned experts, huge
spending on reconstruction, quality upgrade and maintenance of the existing roads out of
the allocated budget, is the prime cause of such low achievements, particularly in
extending roads to new destination. Such expenditures, which have been routine expenditure
after each monsoon season due to low quality of maintenance, has particularly become
unproductive. Concerned experts of the department said that around 65 per cent of the
total budget is absorbed in such activities.
Sources at the department informed that the
last three years’ average maintenance per kilometer expenditures of blacktop highway
is Rs 44 million whereas similar upgrade expenditure for sub-highway is Rs 4.4 million.
Similarly, the average per kilometer expenditure of blacktop roads build under Third Road
Renovation Project funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), is Rs 9.3 million.
Another major deep-rooted problem related
with poor performances of road construction sector is political intervention. Officials of
the department blame local political leaders for widely-criticized delay in implementation
of the project. "They create various obstacles in smooth operation of the project by
raising issues related with road construction area, compensation amount of the
acquisitioned land and contractor," they say. Not only the government officials but
National Planning Commission has also expressed similar views. The mid-term evaluation of
Ninth Plan has clearly pointed out this problem and has urged political leaders to be
serious on this particular issue.
Narayan Prasad Regmi, Officer at the
department says, "despite timely release of budget, many projects have failed to
achieve desired progress just because of the arise of problems in finalizing contracts and
distributing compensation."
Beside this, the government, despite all its efforts, has, so
far, failed to attract private sector investment in the road sector. The government has
endorsed policy of "Built, Owned and Transfer" in the road sector to attract
private investment.
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