August 12, 2008
 The Government of Japan Approves the Utilization of the Counterpart Fund of Non-Project Grant Aid
|
The Government of Japan has, based on the recent request made by the Government of Nepal, approved the utilization of three hundred and fifty million, twenty-seven thousand Nepalese Rupees (NRs.350,027,000) from the Counterpart Fund of Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA); NPGA - 2002, NPGA - 2003 and NPGA - 2004, for implementing the following nine (9) projects in August 2008.
The name and details of the projects approved for implementation in their respective sectors are as follows:
Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Development of Rural Areas (including Rural Infrastructure, Road Transport and Electrification) (NRs.122,100,000)
- Suspension Bridge Division Project (NRs.47,100,000)
- Upgrading of Bardibas Sindhuli Bazaar (NRs.55,000,000)
- Ilam Rural Electrification Project (NRs.20,000,000)
Drinking Water and Sanitation (NRs.25,027,000)
- Various Water Supply Projects (NRs.25,027,000)
Disaster Management (NRs.150,000,000)
- Mugling - Narayanghat Water Induced Disaster Prevention Project (NRs.100,000,000)
- Sindhuli - Bardibas Water Induced Disaster Prevention Project (NRs.50,000,000)
Education (NRs.20,000,000)
- Dalit and Girl Scholarship for Primary School Children in Disadvantaged Districts (NRs.20,000,000)
Agriculture (NRs.32,900,000)
- Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Program (NRs.2,900,000)
- Strengthening Food Quality Control Management System (NRs.30,000,000)
Under the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Development of Rural Areas: - for the Rural Infrastructure Sub-sector, the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agriculture Roads will implement the "Suspension Bridge Division Project". Under this Project, (i) wooden planks from selected suspension/suspended bridges will be replaced with steel decks and/or selected suspension bridges will be rehabilitated on trails located in 62 districts, contributing to improving accessibility in rural areas, and (ii) selected community rural bridges located in seven districts will be constructed for improving vehicular access.
For the Road Transport Sub-sector, the Department of Roads will implement the "Upgrading of Bardibas Sindhuli Bazaar" project in order to upgrade and maintain the Sindhuli Road (Section I: Sindhuli Bazaar - Bardibas Section) to insure an improved road environment for road users. This project is the continuation of a Project being implemented in Nepal's Fiscal Year 2063/64 (2006/07).
For the Rural Electrification Sub-Sector, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will implement the "Ilam Rural Electrification Project" (Phase II) to distribute electricity to about 2,000 consumers of seventeen (17) Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Ilam District for the purpose of promoting rural economy and increasing access to electricity. It is expected that electrification at targeted VDCs will enhance employment opportunities including development of small scale industries contributing to the improvement of living standards. Phase I of this project was implemented in Nepal's Fiscal Year 2063/64 (2006/07) under the same source - Counterpart Fund of NPGA.
For the Drinking Water and Sanitation Sector, the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation will implement ten water supply projects in eight (8) districts (Panchthar, Morang, Sunsari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Parsa, Dang and Kailali), providing access to safe drinking water for a population of approximately 140,000. In addition to improving access to safe water, it is expected that the project will contribute to reducing water borne diseases, improving hygiene and sanitary conditions, and decreasing the time women and children spend fetching water.
For the Disaster Management Sector, the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention (DWIDP) will implement rehabilitation work in order to mitigate water induced disasters on the Mugling-Narayanghat Highway and Sindhuli Road (Section I), which is regularly affected by landslides, debris flows and floods every year. Taking into consideration the negative impact from the above-mentioned natural disasters on transportation, communication and the economy of the country, the urgent need to implement disaster mitigation work for these two important roads has been realized. Thus, the above-mentioned two projects will be implemented in close cooperation with the Department of Roads (DoR), Ministry of Physical Planning and Works to mitigate and manage water-induced disasters along the roads, and thus result in smoother vehicular movement. These two projects are the continuation of a Project being implemented in Nepal's Fiscal Year 2063/64 (2006/07).
For the Education Sector, the "Dalit and Girl Scholarships for Primary School Children in Disadvantaged Districts" will be implemented by the District Education Offices under the Department of Education to provide scholarships to around 57,142 Dalit and girl children. This will contribute to increasing the enrollment of such children in primary schools and also towards achieving the goal of universal access to primary education.
Under the Agriculture Sector, a total of two projects will be implemented. The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control will construct a Central Laboratory Building and procure the necessary equipment to establish it as an accredited laboratory with improved analytical capability for the Department under the "Strengthening Food Quality Control Management System" project. It is expected that such facilities will help facilitate the quality control of domestic products and promote agro-based production in the country. This project is also the continuation of a Project being implemented in Nepal's Fiscal Year 2063/64 (2006/07).
And, finally, the Department of Agriculture will implement the Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Program, focusing on producing fresh vegetables and quality vegetable seeds. About 1.8 million seedlings of different vegetable crops will be distributed for fresh vegetable production, and three (3) metric tons of seeds of different vegetable crops and twenty (20) metric tons of potato seeds will be produced and distributed to farmers in approximately 30 districts.
Considering the context of social and economic development and aspirations of the people of Nepal, the Government of Japan has decided to respond to Nepal's requests to help achieve sustainable socio-economic development for poverty alleviation, through the above-mentioned projects, which will enhance the peace and democratization process in the country.
|
|
