Doubts arise about construction of park in Damak

Sachin Pokhrel & Bishnu Kumar Pokhrel, Damak, July 31: The landowners who provided the land for the construction of a park, as well as locals, have begun to raise objections due to the delay in the construction of the Damak Clean Industrial Park, which was supposed to be built in Damak, Jhapa. Landowners and social parties have begun protesting eight years after the land acquisition for the establishment of a park with the goal of providing employment to more than 100,000  common people, after the park building campaign failed to take off.

So far, only about 60 per cent of the 2,100 square metres of land required for the construction of the park has been managed. Then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone for the construction of the park in last February. Apart from laying the foundation stone, there is no progress in the construction of the park, according to common landowners and social activists.

During the acquisition of land for the construction of the park, the ordinary landowners, who were protesting that the compensation was low from the beginning, protested against the delay in the construction of the park by forming a struggle committee. The project, which was supposed to be a Nepal-China Friendly Industrial Park, began to face opposition.

He complained that there was no concrete basis for the establishment of the industry yet. According to Dipu Chapagai, a local social worker, the Chinese side and concerned groups did not advance the construction of the park by the landowners who have been protesting since the beginning that the compensation for the land provided by them for the industrial park was low.

Even after years, apart from laying the foundation stone, neither the land acquisition work nor the infrastructure construction work has gained any momentum, Shankar Katuwal, a local resident who has provided land for the park, has complained.

A philanthropist and political activist, Mahesh Ghimire, says that he expected Chinese investment would come, factories would be opened, and more than 100,000 people would be employed which would ultimately contribute to economic prosperity and business expansion in the region. But so far none of this has happened. 

Ghimire said that even after eight years, there is no basis for building a park here, and he said that there is a suspicion among the public that they are trying to seize the land by misleading them that Chinese investment would come. Allegations are rife that the intention is to acquire only the land and that some land mafia conspired to acquire the land.

The Government of Nepal, through the decision of the Council of Ministers meeting on March 14, 2016, advanced the work of land acquisition for the construction of the industrial park.

As part of this, government land under the river rise area as well as other land owned by common people was acquired, and the distribution of compensation was started for the park, which was to be built on 2,100 bighas of Damak, Gauradaha, and Kamal. During this process, 1,275 bighas of land have been registered in the name of Industrial Area Management Limited, and the rest of the land is being acquired and brought under the name of the organization. Of the land required for the industrial park, 1,790 bighas of land have come under the name of Jagga Limited.

Although the investment board approved the investment of Rs. 64.41 billion in the first phase for the construction of the park, which is supposed to be established with an investment of around three billion rupees on August 2, 2019, the common people have started expressing their anger that the park construction campaign has not yet gained momentum.

In this regard, Sanjay Lal Manandhar, director of Industrial Area Management Limited, said that there is no doubt that there will be no work during the construction of the park. According to the agreement, China will build an industrial zone in Damak Municipality, Kamal Rural Municipality, and Gauradaha Municipality. Although there is some delay, he expressed his belief that after completing all the procedures, an industrial park will be built with Chinese investment.