Kathmandu, April 28
The government’s plan to install the intelligent traffic signal system in Kathmandu Valley is very likely to miss its deadline which is just two months away.
The government had launched Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project in January 2011 in a bid to address transportation problems of the Capital and one of its major programmes was installing the traffic signals.
But, no concrete progress has been made so far whereas the Project is set to expire at the end of June this year.
The government had allocated Rs 330 million for the traffic lights whereas the Asian Development Bank had agreed to cover 51 per cent of the total cost.
But, the Project has failed to select even a contractor for the programme and the allocated budget is likely to be frozen.
Three attempts had been made to select a contractor.
In the latest call, eight companies had filed the bid and the Rasuwa Construction Company was selected for a technical assessment. However, the Project later concluded that the company could not be handed over the contract as its financial condition was not satisfactory.
The financial assessment had found that the company overestimated the cost for the programme by 20 per cent. Subsequently, the ADB has hinted that the company could not be assigned for the programme.
The total budget of the programme is Rs 3.077 billion, of which the ADB was responsible for Rs 2.05 billion including grant and loan.
Other components of the Project have also been marred by the slow progress.
