NEPAL > The first large scale private project in solid waste management in Nepal to kick off soon
Source: http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/02/12/solid-start/
A much-delayed project to manage solid waste in an integrated way is finally gaining momentum in Kathmandu Valley.
With Investment Board Nepal (IBN) giving its nod to Nepwaste Pvt. Ltd and Clean Valley Company Pvt. Ltd to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for Kathmandu Valley Integrated Solid Waste Management, the six-year-old public-private-partnership project is set in motion.
Nepwaste Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture of Compunication Pvt. Ltd and the Organic Village, will be working in Kathmandu and the surrounding VDCs under Package 1. Similarly, Clean Valley Company Pvt. Ltd will be preparing the DPR for Package 2 and 3, covering Lalitpur, Kirtipur and nearby VDCs and Bhaktapur, Madhyapur Thimi and surrounding VDCs respectively.
“Private sector can bring in technology and investment needed for solid waste management,” says Sumitra Amatya, Executive Director of Solid Waste Management Technical Support Centre under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development.
In an effort to address the longstanding garbage problem in Kathmandu Valley, the government called for expression of interest in 2009. Eight companies submitted their proposals. Initially, the joint venture of Hydroair Techtonics (PCD) Ltd and Kasturi Link was selected. After a field visit by a high-level committee comprising government officials, it was determined that the company was not financially and technically capable. Later, the second eligible companies were chosen.
Even thereafter, the project was delayed for two years as the first company filed a case in the Supreme Court. In 2011, the IBN came on board after the Investment Board Nepal Act-2011 was passed by the legislative parliament. After a field visit in 2014, the two companies were verified.
According to Amatya, the project will be operated in the build-operate-transfer model.
Lasse Laaksonen, CEO of Compunication Pvt. Ltd, one of the partners of Nepwaste says they are determined to ensure maximum material reusability.
“We are in crisis management stage right now and if we don’t plan for long term, involving private sector will not do us any good,” says Amatya. Till date, the private sector has been involved only in small scale waste management. This will be the first large scale private investment in solid waste management in the country.
