Thursday, October 3, 2019

IBN, Chinese company seal deal for Damak Industrial Park

The government and Damak Clean Industrial Park Pvt Ltd (DCIPPL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of the 'China-Nepal Friendship Industrial Park' in Province 1.
The chief executive of Investment Board Nepal (IBN) Maha Prasad Adhikari and the chairman of DCIPPL, Govinda Bahadur Thapa signed the MoU amid a ceremony held in the capital today.
The industrial park – located at Damak in Jhapa district – is going to be built with a total investment of around Rs 64 billion from Chinese investor Lhasa Economic and Technology Development Zone Jing-Ping Joint Creation Construction Project Development Co Ltd.
Spread over an area of 1,600 hectares, the industrial park will be built in public-private partnership (PPP) model, according to the IBN. “The government has already completed the process of land acquisition to construct the park. The construction will start as soon as the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for construction, operation and management of the industrial park is presented followed by the Project Development Agreement (PDA), the board informed, adding that the park will be spread over Gauradaha municipality, Kamal rural municipality and Damak municipality of Jhapa. “The project is the first one in Nepal supported under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China.”
The project is expected to add a new dimension in sectors like expansion of investment between Nepal and China and infrastructure development. The project is also expected to contribute to the expansion of physical infrastructure, fulfill local demand, and support export promotion, according to vice mayor of Lhasa Municipal People's Government Liu Guang Min.
Speaking on the occasion of MoU signing, Liu said that the industrial park will contribute toward employment generation and socio-economic development of Nepal.
Likewise, chairman of the industrial park Govinda Thapa said that the construction work of the project will present a model of efficiency and transparency. “The project will establish a new model of development in Nepal,” he said, adding that the project will give us a model that the entire country and the people can be proud of.
Likewise, Adhikari, on the occasion, said that the construction of the industrial park will contribute to the development of Nepal. Chairman of the Industrial Area Development Limited Nanda Kishor Basnet said that the project will be Nepal's model project. “Nepal did not have projects other than hydropower projects in PPP model,” he said adding that that it would be Nepal's first non-hydro project under PPP model.
The signing of the MoU precedes the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping that is scheduled for next week.
Though the government has approved Chinese investment of Rs 64 billion to construct Nepal-China Friendship Industrial Park, the construction work is still unsure as the landlords are not in consensus about the use of their lands.
Some of the landlords have not accepted the compensation amount stating that the amount is too low.
According to Industrial Area Development Limited, some 117 landlords have received Rs 120.7 million till now. The compensation has been distributed according to the recommendation from a committee formed under the coordination of the Chief District Officer (CDO).
The District Administration Office has classified the land into three category: cultivable land, riverside land and land occupied by bushes. Compensation of Rs 2.2 million has been approved for a bigha of cultivable land, Rs 800,000 for land occupied by bushes, and Rs 200,000 for riverside land. The government has provided Rs 430.44 million for compensation distribution.
The government has distributed the compensation to the landlords of Damak Municipality, Gauradaha Municipality, and Kamal Rural Municipality. However, landlords of 61 units of land have not been identified.
Basnet said that the construction work will begin by mid-December in 500 bigha land of Jharka in Kamal-7. However, the landlords of Kamal-7 have suspected the government's intention and blaming that it is a ploy to capture their land. “No paper has mentioned that the land is taken for the establishment of the Industrial Park, they blamed, adding that it might be a strategy of the government to buy the land for cheap. The landlords have also claimed that the recommended compensation amount is less the government valuation of their land. “A compensation of Rs 200,000 per bigha is recommended,” they said, adding, “However, government rate is Rs 700,000 per bigha.
Basnet, however, claimed that the compensation amount has been decided according to the Land Acquisition Act.

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