MCC VP Brooks exhorts Nepal to complete the project on time

KATHMANDU: The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha has been asked for prompt assistance in building the project by Jonathan Brooks, the regional “Deputy Vice President” of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Brooks has asked that the work be done because the deadline for putting the development project funded by the MCC into action is quickly approaching.

The project will begin construction from August. ‘However, the land compensation has not been finished, despite other preparatory work being finished, according to Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Nepal officials. The transmission line for electricity under the project will build infrastructure from India to Nepal. The cross-border transmission line from Butwal to Gorakhpur, India, which will be jointly funded by Nepal and India, will be built with the help of this infrastructure, according to MCA Nepal.

The 315 km double circuit 400 KV transmission line will include three new substations, each with a 400 KV capacity, according to the MCA Nepal Development Committee. The transmission line will cross 10 districts, including Kathmandu, Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, Dhading, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Tanahun, Palpa, Nawalpur, and Parasi, according to MCA Nepal. Compensation work is still ongoing in some of these districts.

MCA Nepal has also promised to repair 77 km of the roads in Dang that run beneath the east-west highway in addition to the transmission line. The MCC project will cost 630 million US dollars to build the roads, transmission lines, and substations. MCC is contributing 500 million US dollars, and the Government of Nepal is contributing 130 million US dollars.

Deputy Vice President Brooks reviewed the work completed by “MCA Nepal,” the organization set up to carry out the MCC project in Nepal, during the meeting with Home Minister Shrestha. He questioned how the land acquisition, compensation, and tree/forest clearing work will proceed in the districts where the project will be implemented because the project must be finished in five years. He also inquired about the transmission line agreement between Nepal and India.

Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha stated at the time that Nepal has always placed a high priority on its relations with the United States. The recent political changes, he claimed, put them in charge of achieving the aspirations of the populace for economic and social development, and he predicted that US initiatives like USAD and MCC would help the Nepali people advance economically and socially. As a nation that upholds democracy and the rule of law, Shrestha claimed that the MCC has already been approved by the Nepali Parliament and will be successfully implemented.