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______________________________________________________________________________
News
Briefs
Loan
Commitment for Melamchi
Enhancing
Nepal's Air Transport Service
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(Afghanistan and
Myanmar in the
map are not members of SAARC)
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ADB
to Fund Education Sector Reform Programme The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said preparations are underway
to “take Nepal's school system into the next stages of reform
and restructuring with new grants that will make the nation's
educational programmes more responsive to the needs of an
expanding economy”.
Initially,
the bank has pledged a grant assistance of $8 million for the
Education Sector Programme Cluster Subprogram II.
This
will be jointly financed with other education development
partners including the European Commission, which intends to
provide 6 million euros ($8.7 million) as part of its
contribution to the school sector.
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According
to the ADB, Japan Special Fund is also giving a $600,000 grant to be
managed by the ADB for the preparation of the third and final subprogram
of the Education Sector Program. The government of Nepal is providing
$110,000 to the technical assistance.
“The
overall objective of the programme is to work toward a fair, inclusive,
effective and complete education system for Nepal. It also supports
Nepal’s Education for All Programme for 2004-2009, the framework for
basic and primary education in the country,” an ADB statement said.
The
second sub-programme will support the preparation and transition of the
country's public education into an integrated 12-year system - eight years
of basic education and four years of secondary education, which is
prescribed under the country's school sector reform plan.
"Through
the implementation of the second subprogram, Nepal's education system will
be in a better position to successfully pursue the school sector reform
plan on a countrywide basis in 2009. This will result in an education
system capable of providing better quality education that will enhance the
educational attainment and livelihoods for children, particularly girls
and disadvantaged groups," said Ayako Inagaki, senior education
specialist of ADB's South Asia Department.
The
final sub-programme, which is scheduled to start in 2009, will support the
full implementation of the school sector reform plan once it is finalised,
financed, and the legal and financing framework is adjusted to a 12-year
school system.
The
first sub-programme, which began in January 2007 and will run until July
2009, supports the Education for All Programme and is laying the
groundwork for the integration of the current system into the planned
12-year school framework. The ADB provided $30 million loan and $2 million
grant for this programme.
"Despite
the government's efforts to meet the increasing demand for education,
especially at post-primary level, financing problems, a poorly qualified
teaching force and institutional weaknesses are slowing down improvements
in school education," Inagaki added.
[Source:
Nepal News]]
ADB
Expresses Loan Commitment for
Melamchi
The
principal donor of multi-million-dollar Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP),
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed commitment to provide loan
totaling Rs 8.55 billion (around $136 million).
A
mission delegation of ADB, which was in town recently, had agreed to
extend the loan. The formal decision to this effect is expected to be made
by ADB board meeting on February 8.
Talking
with the press, Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hisila Yami said
on Wednesday, that the Ministry is content with the mission's assessment,
which she said had been very flexible to their concerns.
Earlier,
the government's decision to cancel the selection of a British company
called Severn Trent in drinking water management in the valley had
endangered the future of the project.
Yami
said the project has been divided into two sub projects. Reports say that
as per the new cost estimation, $195 million will be spent on
infrastructure development. This total cost includes $96 million for
tunnel, $38 million for access road and $61 million for water treatment
plant. Besides, $9.22 million will be allocated for social and environment
support programs.
Furthermore,
the government has also decided to hand over the assets and liabilities of
Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) in its valley operations to the
newly formed Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL). The KUKL will
take over its responsibility of drinking water supply and management in
the valley from mid-February.
[Source:
Nepal News]
Grant
Enhancing Nepal's Air Transport
Service to
Ensure Sustainable Development
Japan
and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are assisting Nepal in preparing a
project design to improve the quality of air transport services.
The
Japan Special Fund is extending a
$750,000 grant to prepare the Civil
Aviation Airport Project. The grant will be managed by ADB. The
government of Nepal will provide $190,000 to complete the funding
requirement.
The
technical assistance will come up with a feasibility design suitable for
ADB financing to improve the country's aviation sector. It will reassess
and survey air traffic and transport network updates, and the results
will be used as a base to design a viable and feasible project that will
address deficiencies in airport operations in the areas of management,
capability, viability, safety and feasibility. A proposal will also be
made for meeting future air navigation equipment requirements over the
next 10 years.
The
assistance will also reassess the capability of the government's Civil
Aviation Authority of Nepal as a regulator and airport operator, and
prepare an action plan to further enhance the performance of the agency.
"The
civil aviation sector in Nepal is relatively well managed and complies
with international requirements. However, its equipment and structure
need improvement for sustainable long-term development," said
Kazuhiko Higuchi, Director of ADB's Transport and Communication
Division, South Asia Department.
Nepal
is a landlocked country with rugged and mountainous terrain that makes
road construction and maintenance costly and difficult. Limited funding
also contributes to the problem. Certain areas of Nepal remain largely
inaccessible except through porter and mule tracks, and in some areas,
light aircraft landing strips.
Air
transport has played a significant role in the administrative, economic
and social development of the country, and in the absence of adequate
roads, it has provided links between the capital of Katmandu and various
administrative and commercial centers of the country, as well as with
the outside world.
[Source:
Asian Development Bank]
News
Briefs
Constituent
Assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 10: A
Cabinet meeting, on January 11, 2008, decided to hold Constituent
Assembly elections on April 10, 2008. Emerging from the Cabinet
meeting, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said, "The
Cabinet meeting made the decision in an amicable manner and the
Government will concentrate on the Constituent Assembly elections,
setting it as the major agenda." Leaders of the three major
political parties, Prime Minister and Nepali Congress leader Girija
Prasad Koirala, CPN-Maoist Chairman Prachanda and the Communist
Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) General
Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, have also reached an agreement not to
make any remarks in public that would adversely affect the
environment for the elections. Kantipur
Online, January 12, 2008.
[Source:
South Asian Intelligence Review]
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