Multi-year projects in Bagmati Province show slow progress

By Anil Parajuli,Hetanuda, Nov. 26: In the first term of the Bagmati Provincial Government, several multi-year projects were initiated. However, by the third year of the second term, many of these projects remain incomplete, stalled, or non-operational. 

Despite significant investments in sectors like roads, buildings, agriculture, and animal husbandry, many of these projects are either physically unfinished or lack clear operational modalities.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) of the province, which had made significant investments, reports that none of these projects have been completed, and many have not even begun operations. 

Some construction projects are still under way, while others have been completed but have not developed operational systems. A lack of clear policy from the provincial government has led to delays, even with cold storage facilities that were completed but failed to begin operations. Some cold storage facilities remain unfinished even though construction started a long time ago. 

The total cost of these cold storage projects, spread across various districts, amounts to Rs. 1.17 billion, with Rs. 763.5 million spent by the end of fiscal year 2023/24. While physical progress is reported at 86 per cent, financial progress remains very low at 0.51 per cent. 

The ministry has stated that delays occurred due to partner institutions failing to contribute the agreed-upon funds, making it difficult to complete these projects.

Two major multi-year projects, the Dust Milk Factory in Hetauda and the Regional Agricultural Wholesale Market, have been completed but remain non-operational due to a lack of operational protocols. 

The Powder Milk Factory, constructed with an investment of Rs. 47.33 million, and the Agricultural Wholesale Market, built for Rs. 33.71 million, have both been handed over to Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City, yet neither project is fully functional

At the Agriculture and Forestry University, construction of a BSL lab building has been completed, with Rs. 5 million allocated for equipment procurement. In Bharatpur, construction of a modern veterinary hospital and cold storage facilities in several districts is still under way. Under the multi-year cold storage project for fruits and vegetables, 10 out of 11 facilities have been completed, though two in Rasuwa and Bidur are only informally operational.

The Ministry’s Acting Secretary, Sushil KC, acknowledged that administrative errors have caused many of the projects to stall, and the lack of proper project management has contributed to their issues. He explained that interests of certain groups had hindered progress, leading to the current state of the projects.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Development reports no significant problems with its multi-year projects. The Secretary of the Ministry, Purna Bahadur Darji, said that four multi-year projects under his ministry are nearing completion, and no new projects are planned for the current fiscal year. 

Meanwhile, Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Secretary, Deependra Subedi, stressed the need for public-private partnerships in long-term projects. He suggested that local and provincial governments should collaborate to share both the results and the financial burden of these projects. While the provincial government has agreed to partnerships, it has yet to allocate the necessary budget for these collaborations.

According to Suraj Poudel, the Information Officer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, other ministries, apart from MoALD, have faced no significant issues with their multi-year projects. In sectors like infrastructure development and water supply, multi-year projects are common, and no major obstacles have been reported.