(Sampurna Media had sent some written questions to the MCA office about the delay in the implementation of the MCC project. In response to those questions, the answer sent by the MCA office is presented here is as following – Editor)

 Response provided to Sampurna Media:

 The MCC project announced its EIF on August 30, 2023. In the five months since then, what work has been done and what challenges have been seen?

The major progress of the MCC Nepal Compact Program after the announcement of EIF are as follows:

1. MCA-Nepal, under the leadership of its Board of Directors and with valuable support from the Ministry of Finance and MCC is taking the necessary steps for the re-tendering process for the construction of the 315KM power transmission lines. The redesign and relaunching are a technical process and MCA-Nepal has assigned the recently procured Supervisory Engineering firm to review the design parameters and construction provisions to address the major cost drivers of the prior bid. The revised design will be used on the new Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the design-build works contract. MCA-Nepal will launch the new IFBs at the earliest this year.
2. MCA-Nepal opened the technical bids for the three substations on 19 October 2023. The evaluation of the bids is in the final stage and the outcome will be made public once the procurement process is completed.
3. MCA-Nepal has made notable progress in acquiring land to build tower pads for the transmission line as per the Land Acquisition Act 1977 in nine project districts except in Kathmandu district. As per Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1977, public notices with full details of the land parcels to be acquired have been issued in all nine districts. The notices were issued after MCA-Nepal submitted the Preliminary Action Reports on land acquisition at meetings chaired by Chief District Officers and Chairpersons of the Compensation Fixation Committee (CFC) of respective districts. At present, CFC sub-committees are doing their due diligence in the field to verify land parcels and prepare technical reports for compensation determination. Following which, a resettlement action plan will be disclosed at the community level.
4. MCA-Nepal initiated work on forest census in districts that will be affected by the Electricity Transmission Project. Forest census works on tree enumeration have been completed in 7 districts namely Chitwan, Dhading, Makwanpur, Nawalparasi E and W, Palpa and Tanahun. It preceded extensive consultations with Community Forest User Groups and Leasehold Forest User Groups and orientations to Divisional and Sub-Divisional Forest Officers to lead the forest census works.
5. The design work and the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) Report for the maintenance of the 40 km road section of the East-West Highway (Dhan Khola to Lamahi) in Dang district under the Road Maintenance Project (RMP) is in the final phase. This segment will be maintained by applying new technology of Full Depth Reclamation and Superpave. The bidding for this segment will be launched by the middle of 2024.
6. Preparation works, including the development of documents to hire a consultant for the design work for periodic maintenance of up to 130 km of the national highway network at different locations agreed with the Department of Roads is ongoing.

2. Why was the bid for the construction of the transmission line canceled? When will the next bid be called? Why is there a delay in the tender process? Won’t there be more problems in completing the project on time due to procedural delays?

Following the opening of financial proposals of submitted bids for the construction of the transmission line in September 2023, MCA-Nepal determined that the prices substantially exceeded the estimation made for the transmission line packages, so MCA-Nepal rejected all bids based on the applicable procurement guidelines.

MCA-Nepal, under the leadership of its Board of Directors and with valuable support from the Ministry of Finance and MCC is taking the necessary steps for the re-tendering process. The redesign and relaunching are a technical process and MCA-Nepal has assigned the recently procured Supervisory Engineering firm to review the design parameters and construction provisions to address the major cost drivers of the prior bid. The revised design will be used on the new Invitation for Bids (IFB) for the design-build works contract. MCA-Nepal will launch the new IFBs at the earliest this year and is hopeful to receive a good response from the market.

MCA-Nepal is concentrating its efforts to ensure the projects are completed on time. MCA-Nepal is confident that the construction work will be completed in the available time frame for the construction of the transmission line.

3. Is it true that there is a delay in cutting trees and land acquisition at the project site due to some complicated procedures of the existing Forest Act? Have you demanded the amendment of the Forest Act owing to the same cause? What is the MCA office doing in solving the problem of private land acquisition and compensation?

Forest census works on tree enumeration have been completed in 7 districts namely Chitwan, Dhading, Makwanpur, Nawalparasi E and W, Palpa and Tanahun. It preceded extensive consultations with Community Forest User Groups and Leasehold Forest User Groups and orientations to Divisional and Sub-Divisional Forest Officers to lead the forest census works.

MCA-Nepal has completed the acquisition of land for the construction of Ratmate Substation as per the Land Acquisition Act, 1977. 20.27 hectares of land has been acquired in Belkotgadhi Municipality, Nuwakot district, and a total of NRs. 1,468,468,497.68 has been distributed to affected people as compensation. Nepal Electricity Authority is providing the required land for the construction of two other substations: New Damauli Substation and New Butwal Substation.

For the construction of the transmission line, 104 hectares of land will be acquired for tower pads in 10 districts. MCA-Nepal has made notable progress in acquiring land to build tower pads for the transmission line in nine project districts except in Kathmandu district. As per Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1977, public notices with full details of the land parcels to be acquired have been issued in all nine districts. The notices were issued after MCA-Nepal submitted the Preliminary Action Reports on land acquisition at meetings chaired by Chief District Officers and Chairpersons of the Compensation Fixation Committee (CFC) of respective districts. At present, CFC sub-committees are doing their due diligence in the field to verify land parcels and prepare technical reports for compensation determination. A resettlement action plan will then engage the affected communities that will include the rate to be compensated.4. Should the Government of Nepal bear the burden of the increased estimated cost owing to the delay in the project implementation, or will the US government bear it? What has been agreed on this matter?The MCC Nepal Compact Program is jointly funded by the GoN and MCC, in which the GoN has contributed US$ 197 million and MCC has provided a grant of US$ 500 million. MCA-Nepal remains committed to ensuring the transmission lines are built on time and within budget. 5. There is also a rumor that there is some conflict between the MCA office and the GoN regarding the MCC Nepal Compact implementation. Is it true?MCA-Nepal is a Development Board, a government-owned legal entity established in April 2018 (Baisakh 2075 BS) under the Development Board Act, 2013 BS (1956 AD) by the GoN. The MCA-Nepal Board is chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and is represented by a multi-disciplinary team of public and private sectors. MCA-Nepal thus is an agency set up to implement the MCC Nepal Compact projects under the guidance of the MCA-Nepal Board. All the stakeholders of the Compact are committed to the Compact and working together to ensure that it brings high-quality, green energy to the people of Nepal to power continued economic growth.6. What will happen if the work cannot be done as per the calendar developed to complete the program within five years from the date of the EIF? What is the possibility and procedure for MCC to extend the period?

With MCA-Nepal, the MCA Board, the GoN, and MCC closely monitoring progress and collaborating on timelines and decisions MCA-Nepal is confident that the program will be completed within the five-year timeframe given the current achievements. The progress will be closely monitored each year and targets will be discussed well ahead of time.