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The construction of the Bheri Bridge con­necting Chaurjahari of West Rukum and Kudu of Jajarkot has been stuck in limbo. The 150m-long bridge is part of the Mid-hill highway, also called the Pushpalal highway.Although construction began five years ago, even foundational work on the bridge remains incomplete. The Department of Roads (DoR) has attributed the delay to the tardiness and negligence on the part of YP Construction Kath­mandu, the company that has the Rs 150 million contract for the bridge. The company, on the other hand, blames the delay on a “flawed design estimate”.

Bishal Sharma, head of Chaurjahari municipality, says construction was affect­ed because the road section linking Chaurja­hari and Sallibazar is treacherous. He adds that despite repeated requests for speedy construction of the bridge, work has dragged on due to the construction company’s refusal to cooperate.

“The work that was supposed to be complet­ed in three years has dragged on for five years. The local government will take action against the construction company if it does not resume work in this fiscal year,” he said.

However, Raju Shrestha, proprietor of the construction company, offers a counter-nar­rative. He argues that the DoR’s plan had to be redesigned two years into construction. He puts the blame for the delay squarely on the DoR, which he alleges of making a perfunctory design without visiting the site. This, he says, made a second design necessary. But Shrestha is confident construction will be completed in next two years as a new design had already been drawn up.

The delay in building the bridge has adversely affected the construction of the Jajarkot section of the highway, depriving people of Jajarkot and Rukum of a motor road. This means they will continue to have to rely on a suspension bridge for mobility. The delay has also obstruct­ed work on the highway’s upgrade as well as town-planning at Chaurjahari.

 By Rajendra Karki | Jajarkot

Bhaktapur: The Suryabinay­ak-Dhulikhel road is going to be upgraded to eight lanes. Concerned authorities have stressed the need for start­ing the construction work at the earliest. They expressed their views at a ‘suggestion-col­lection campaign’ organized last week at Jagati, Bhaktapur by the Department of Roads (DoR).

On the occasion, former minister and parliamentary member Mahesh Basnet said that the road expansion will alleviate traffic congestions. He also talked about the need to install traffic lights, con­struct overhead bridges and manage sidewalks.

Sanjaya Kumar Shrestha, chief of DoR’s Foreign Aid Division, said that the Japa­nese government, which will provide financial support to the project, was carrying out a preliminary study of the proj­ect. Following a preliminary study, it had pledged to sign a loan agreement during a recent visit of DoR representa­tives to Japan.

“The Japanese government will provide a loan for the proj­ect at an interest rate of 0.2 percent,” he said.

“Part of the project is a plan to construct a four-lane tunnel road at Palanse and to upgrade the road to eight lanes from Palanse to Sanga Bhangjyan,” he said.

“Fuel tankers will not be allowed on the tunnel road. A study is also being conducted to build a tunnel road along the Suryabinayak-Koteshwar road,” he added.

Other participants like Mayor of Suryabinayak Municipality, Basu Dev Thapa, a local representative from the municipality, Ukesh Kawa, and district president of the Federation of Nepali Jour­nalists, Pushkar Raj Budha­thoki, also spoke about the importance of starting the project soon. RSS

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NIC Asia Bank’s last week opened a new branch at Tilota­ma Municipality Ward 15, Kotihawa, Rupandehi. Ashok Kumar Poudel, director of Nepal Rastra Bank (Bhairaha­wa), inaugurated the branch, NIC’s 173rd. The bank will now serve its customers through 172 ATM counters and four exten­sions counters.

NIC Asia Bank is one of the largest private sector commer­cial banks in the country in terms of capital, balance-sheet size, customer base, number of branches and its ATM network. More branches are planned, says a bank statement.

 Nabil Bank is set to introduce Union Pay International QR Code Acquiring service in the country, a feature which could potentially eliminate the need for Point of Sales (POS) terminals. The cus­tomers can simply scan the QR readers at checkout counters at merchant outlets to make their payments.

When a customer scans the QR code, it transmits transaction information to the mobile app, where card details are stored and payment initiated. Through the new service, the bank intends to provide efficient and secure electronic transactions for both merchants and customers.

 NIBL Capital Markets and Ace Capital completed their merger process and launched operation as a sin­gle unit last week with ‘NIBL Ace Capital’ as the name for the consolidated unit of the two investment banks. NIBL Capital Markets and Ace Capital had initiated the merger via a Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2017.

According to a joint statement, the post-merger paid-up capital of the consolidated entity stands at Rs 270 million, which is the largest in Nepali capital market industry. "NIBL Ace Capital will avail com­bined depository participant (DP) services to more than 142,000 demat account-holders. It will also provide share registrar services to 38 companies and over one million shareholders,” reads the statement from the joint entity. At present, these services will be provided through four branch offices of NIBL Ace Capital, while there are expansion plans for three more branch offices.

Kathmandu: A meeting of the out­going Council of Minister on Feb­ruary 15 concluded that the cabinet formed under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had fulfilled its goals. The cabinet meeting held at the official residence of the prime minister at Baluwatar thanked all those who had supported the government, said outgoing Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation, Mahendra Yadav. The meeting also concluded that the government had been successful in its main task of holding local, central and provincial-level elections. RSS

As political analyst Krishna Khanal points out, after a long time, the head of government in Nepal will have an unquestionable man­date to govern (see: Many hurdles ahead for Oli government, Page 2). Since the 2006 political changes, until the promulgation of the new constitu­tion on September 20, 2015, successive governments were occupied with completing the peace and consti­tution process that started with the signing of the Com­prehensive Peace Accord in 2006. After constitution promulgation, the focus shifted to holding the consti­tutionally-mandated three tiers of elections. Only after these elections was an environment created for the new constitution’s implementation.

KP Sharma Oli becomes the first prime minister to see to the institutionalization of the nascent federal set-up, as provided in the new constitution. With the merger between CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) now all but assured, Oli will get to lead a strong gov­ernment with a commanding majority in the national parliament. Not just that. His left alliance will also form governments in six of the seven federal provinces, bar­ring Province 2. It is hard to think of a more favorable political climate for the new prime minister.

On the campaign trail, Oli had promised a new era of prosperity and stability. That will be a tall order. Most of the next few years will, perforce, be spent devising the right formula for division of spoils among the cen­tral government, the seven provinces and the 753 local bodies—in what is sure to be an acrimonious and ardu­ous process. In this climate, it will be difficult for Oli to chart out a clear path for collective, national prosperity.

He could have better luck on stability, primarily because of the solid mandate he enjoys at all three levels of government. If there is one strong communist party following the left merger, handing over power to Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, as agreed, need not be very disruptive either.

Oli’s difficult relations with Madhesi parties could be more problematic. He will not find it easy to accommo­date them in the new central government, much less accommodating their demands in the new constitu­tion. Separately, nor will it be easy for him to deal with India and China, with their growing (and often compet­ing) influences and expectations.

Oli’s mettle as a national leader was put to a serious test during his stint as the blockade-time prime minis­ter. With challenges aplenty on both national and inter­national fronts, it will not be any easier this time.