Donors and NGOs warn Nepali authorities against renegotiating reconstruction agreements
Under opposition pressure, Prime Minister Oli wants to speed up aid distribution. The World Bank, which administers a US$ 500 million fund, is against it, and could pull out. Fifteen months after the quake, thousands of families are still living in makeshift shelters.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – NGOs and donors helping Nepal’s post-earthquake reconstruction have threatened to pull out if the government does not change its policy of handing out aid without checks.
On 29 June, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that his government accepted opposition demands to renegotiate the World Bank-led Multi Donors Trust Fund (MDTF), which administers a US$ 500 million fund, in order to change the current arrangements in favour of two instalments (NRP 15,000 and NRP 50,000) rather than three of NRP 50,000, NRP 80,000, and NRP 70,000.
“We would try to convince the government against the large payments,” Ivan Vuarambon, Swiss Development Cooperation’s leader on the MDTF said, “But if the negotiations fail, we may decide not to continue with the programme”.
“The phased payment is related to the quality of the construction and the inspection process to ensure it. It goes against government’s own Post-Disaster Recovery Framework,” Vuarambon added.
Howver, for Dilendra Prasad Badu, spokesman for the Nepali Congress (main opposition party), “Earlier we agreed to provide the fund in more instalments and all the instalments were supposed to be completed within a year. But it’s already more than 15 months and victims have not yet received first instalments. So, we asked government to give the fund quicker without waiting for more instalments. So, we are not politicizing [the issue, but] rather we are asking for people’s rights.”
According to World Bank, current committed financing includes US$ 200 million from World Banks IDA’s Crisis Response Window, US$ 100 million credit from JICA for parallel financing, about US$ 200 million by NGOs, and US$ 100 million from other donors.
In the latter’s case, Nepali authorities and NGOs continue their tug-of-war. More than a year after the earthquake reconstruction is still at an impasse. The government has targeted groups that are not coordinating their action and acting on their own. Meanwhile, thousands of families are still living in makeshift shelters in the monsoon season.
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