A stinking Singha Durbar is no solution, Mr Mayor

In the business community there is a saying: “Arrogance and Incompetence—The Deadly Elixir of Poor Performance”. Sadly, this is also becoming true in the case of Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolis, Balen Shah. His latest show of arrogance is a halt in the collection and removal of garbage from Singh Durbar complex—the Central Secretariat of the Federal Government, which is frequented by national and international dignitaries on a daily basis. He has reportedly also stopped his staff from collecting garbage from other government buildings, including the President’s Office.   The Mayor has listed 14 areas where he has alleged that despite his numerous efforts he was ‘neglected, faced irresponsible behavior and got unsuitable responses’ from the central government officials and agencies. The charges are not true. I can challenge him on these issues countering that this actually applies more to him.  To give you an example, upon my appointment to follow the instructions of the former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, I prioritized working with him and his staff to find a long-term, sustainable and scientific solution to Kathmandu valley’s chronic solid waste management problems. I reached out to the Mayor and his advisor and fixed a time to meet him at the place chosen by him. When my colleague and I reached the City Hall office to meet him, there was no trace of the Mayor and his staff. Upon calling his advisor, I was told he and the Mayor were busy bringing down unauthorized structures in the Baneshwor area and asked to wait. We waited for half an hour but he never turned up.

After yet another attempt to meet Shah, the latter came to my office in Singh Durbar with two demands: 1) 200 ropani of land in Balkumari area and 2) Rs 20/kg subsidy on compost fertilizer. Upon the fulfillment of these demands, Shah said, he will resolve the garbage management problem on his own. His advisor insisted that they already have a plan. When I asked whether the KMC has started source segregation of garbage to manufacture compost, he bluntly told me that since he himself has Master’s Degree in Environment Engineering he and his staff have all the know-how in waste management and do not need any scientific and technical advice on this topic. He just wanted the central government to fulfill his two demands. 

I then pointed out that his office may not be able to dispose of city garbage without using force as the central government may not be able to depute security personnel forever for waste disposal at the Banchare Danda landfill site. I suggested developing collaborative arrangements with local communities for working out finding long-term solutions.  To this Mayor Balen’s blunt response was: “Why not? I am feeding security personnel now and can feed them for five years”. This arrogant and i-know-all attitude is quite evident in all of his subsequent expressions and actions. The KMC brass had no control over the way the Banchare Danda sanitary landfill site was being converted by KMC crews into a dumping site of both sanitary and hazardous waste. The landfill site staff members were poorly trained, hopelessly supervised and badly motivated.  During my short tenure, we patiently worked with a more responsible and serious Chief Administration Officer of the KMC and provided him with proper guidelines prepared by experts to accomplish source segregation of garbage, implementation of ward level decentralized compost making facilities where possible and also the types of incentives to be given to encourage use compost by local communities.  My team also identified land in the Chovar Area that we thought the Federal Government could lease out to the KMC, provided they prepared a long-term feasible plan for source segregation, composting and marketing. The long-term solution of the Kathmandu valley’s solid waste management problem is possible only by securing a massive participation of citizens and compliances through awareness raising, incentives to companies and organizations for showing good behavior and by operating vibrant co-operative and collaborative governance between local, provincial and federal governments as per Local Government Operation Act (LGOA), 2074.  The very preamble of this act stresses the need for collaboration, co-existence and coordination while implementing the act that clearly outlines that while using rights and discharging responsibilities especially on areas where concurrent rights of all three levels of government is recognized by the Constitution, a spirit of co-operative and complimentary governance is followed by all, especially by local government.  Mayor Balen has either not read the LGOA in its entirety or is ignoring the fundamental principles and spirit of this vital Act under which he is supposed to discharge his duties and enjoy the rights. His regular outbursts and arrogant remarks clearly show that he does not recognize the existence of other two levels of governments while stressing his jurisdiction. His recent undiplomatic remarks further reinforce this. In a way, he is violating the basic tenet of the Constitution i.e. Sahastitwa or co-existence by not respecting and recognizing the rights and responsibilities of other two levels of government. Mayor Balen Sah’s competency in discharging the responsibility as a Mayor of the nation’s premier municipality leaves much to be desired. The LGOA, 2074 clearly tasks the Mayor with addressing the grievances related to all kinds of essential services and ensuring a proper resolution (Article 3/16). Here, the Mayor is failing miserably by shifting the blame to the Central Government from the very beginning in critical areas such as waste management, pollution control, traffic management and road maintenance. These are included in the 14 areas he claims he did not receive any co-operation. Maintaining basic sanitation is critical to preventing the  outbreak of contagious diseases. This task squarely falls under the Mayor’s job description.  By ordering his crew not to collect garbage from federal government premises he is demonstrating gross irresponsibility and negligence toward his constitutional duty of maintaining basic sanitation and health measures.  The city’s air quality is deteriorating, often reaching the level of the most polluted city in the world. He knows that one of the main sources of the pollution is badly constructed roads and traffic jams that generate dust and poisonous, poorly combusted vehicular emissions. When the air quality hits hazardous levels children and elderly populations should be warned by the municipality to take preventive measures, including the closure of schools.  Simple steps such as construction of sky bridges in most crowded areas such as Gaushala, Teaching Hospital, Narayan Gopal Chowk and Keshar Mahal Chowk would ease the traffic and reduce pollution. Mobilization of volunteers through ward offices for assisting traffic police to manage traffic in peak hours could also help. The bad and chaotic traffic is tarnishing the country’s image.  The KMC should at least make sure that public buses stop only at designated bus stops. It should be the Mayor’s first and foremost job. The unregulated buses and micros are causing havoc on the roads by speeding and under-speeding in their competition to grab passengers, thereby causing preventable traffic accidents. He has ordered no parking at several places without providing alternatives. Providing incentives such as tax breaks for constructing multi-story parking or allowing small parking businesses to start in vacant lands could provide the alternative. Illegal parking on the city roads, especially along river corridors, Maharajganj road and ring rods is creating traffic snarls.  For a while, KMC also removed some street businesses in a very selective manner. Fruit and vegetables vendors with loads equivalent to small vehicles line the roadsides, slowing down traffic and making the city ugly. Why should hawkers be allowed to sell fruits and vegetables when we have plenty of shops selling them?  Besides, unhealthy food is being sold especially to school children, which KMC has completely ignored.   As an emerging leader, Mayor Shah must reflect on his style of functioning, get rid of arrogance and focus on good governance. Remember, a large number of voters are counting on you to perform as the best mayor of the country and become a role model for other young mayors. Just blaming others will not help you fulfill your election promises. You might wish to heed to the famous Helen Keller quote: “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”. The author was environment advisor to former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba