Infrastructure Development Committee Directs Government to Address Obstacles and Price Hikes

Kathmandu. The Infrastructure Development Committee under the House of Representatives has directed the government to remove obstacles in development construction and immediately address the problem of extreme price hikes.

The committee issued such a directive on Friday after a thorough discussion with the Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and stakeholders.

Announcing the decisions of the meeting, Committee Chairman Ashish Gajurel directed to immediately identify the complexities in public infrastructure projects in crisis and work to provide relief to the citizens. Expressing concern that the price increase could have a serious impact on the national economy as construction entrepreneurs are unable to proceed with work, the committee has alerted the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure to find an immediate solution.

The committee concluded that due to the ongoing war in West Asia, the prices of essential construction materials such as fuel and bitumen have increased excessively, and Nepal's development projects are on the verge of halting. The issue that many construction entrepreneurs could not advance projects due to the skyrocketing prices of construction materials was seriously raised in the meeting.

Committee Chairman Gajurel, making public the decision of the meeting, said, 'A decision has been made to direct the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure to immediately identify the problems in public infrastructure projects in crisis and work to provide relief to the general public. Regarding price increases: Construction industries that contribute significantly to infrastructure development are in crisis due to the ongoing war in the East. There has been an excessive increase in the prices of essential construction materials such as fuel and bitumen, creating complexities in completing infrastructure construction work. The issue that many construction entrepreneurs are unable to carry out construction work and advance many projects due to the price increase was seriously raised in today's meeting. As this can have a serious impact on national development and the national economy, a decision has been made to direct the immediate resolution of such problems.'

Similarly, the committee has also determined that the current public procurement law is not development-friendly. The committee concluded that the complexities and loopholes in the law have created significant problems in construction work. Stating that a workable and flexible environment is necessary for development construction, the committee has directed the government to present an amendment bill to revise the public procurement law in the current parliamentary session.