Rupak D Sharma,
The Kathmandu
Post, 31 March 2017
Kenichi Yokoyama, the outgoing country director of the
Nepal Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank, was always a ball of
energy. Those who worked with him were surprised to see him working for long
hours, even during weekends and in coffee shops, and keeping abreast with
domestic affairs by thoroughly going through local news reports.
No wonder, he ended his tenure in Nepal on a high note,
meeting 89.5 percent of the fund disbursement target and 89 percent of the
contract award target in 2016. These results were the best since the
Manila-based multilateral lending institution started working in Nepal over 50
years ago.
Yokoyama, a soft-spoken Japanese citizen with a penchant
for Newari food, joined the ADB’s Nepal Resident Mission as its country
director in March 2012. Generally, the ADB appoints country directors for a
period of three years. But he stayed in Nepal for five years, which made him
the longest serving country director for Nepal Resident Mission.
Over his stay in Nepal, the water resource engineer and
agricultural economist witnessed some of the dramatic and even terrifying
events of historical importance.
This included dissolution of the first constituent
assembly, which was followed by the second constituent assembly election. He
then saw the devastation of the country by massive earthquakes of April and
May, 2015 that took away lives of over 9,000 people and shaved off over Rs36
billion from the country’s gross domestic product of that year.
These disasters did unite the people, and to some extent
bickering political parties, which led to the promulgation of a new
constitution in September 2015. The new charter was expected to usher in an era
of peace and political stability. But that did not happen. Instead, it ruffled
feathers of those in the Tarai who were not happy with some of the
constitutional provisions. Soon protests spread like wildfire in some of the
country’s southern belt. This prompted India to impose a trade blockade for
over four-and-a-half months. The trade embargo chocked supply of everything
from daily essentials, raw materials to petroleum products and sent the economy
into a painful tailspin.
“I saw a lot of dramatic events during my stay here,”
says the 56-year-old, who left Nepal on Tuesday evening and will now be based
in India.
He was, of course, referring to epochal political
developments, destructive natural disasters and the crippling supply
disruption. But he was also alluding to unfavourable developments that posed
threats to ADB-funded projects here. Yokoyama faced the first big challenge as
the country director in 2013 when the Chinese contractor of the Melamchi
Drinking Water Project made a fuss and delayed tunnel construction works.
This was one of the ADB’s flagship projects in Nepal and
any delay would have further pushed back the completion deadline of the
project, which still has not been completed since the construction began in
2001.
Eventually, the ADB had to terminate the contract with
the Chinese company. Since then a new contractor has been hired and the ADB is
eagerly waiting for completion of the first phase of the Melamchi Project in
October when 170 million litres of water will be channelled to the Kathmandu
Valley from the Melamchi River in Sidhupalchowk.
As Yokoyama was heaving a sigh of relief after seeing
some progress in the Melamchi Project, he faced another shocking event when
Energy Minister Radha Kumari Gyawali scrapped the consultant selection process
for 140-megawatt Tanahu Hydropower Project initiated by the ADB.
The minister’s decision raised the prospects of Nepal
missing an opportunity to build a reservoir hydroelectric project that could
provide relief to electricity consumers during winter when energy production
falls due to low level of water in river basins.
That was the time when Yokoyama showed skills of an able
manager. To save the project, he attended calls of almost every journalist and
provided them all the information they sought, (while the energy minister kept
herself detached from the media). Journalists loved this hands-on attitude,
which gave him a fairly good press.
As pressure started building from all the corners, the
Cabinet intervened in the process and overturned the decision made by Energy
Minister Gyawali, clearing the decks for the ADB to give continuity to the
consultant selection process. This was probably the biggest victory for
Yokoyama during his tenure here.
What would have happened if the
government had not intervened in the Tanahu case?
Yokoyama: The ADB
probably would not have been active in the energy sector.
So, does the resolution of the
problem mean the ADB will invest more in the energy sector?
Yokoyama: Yes. We are
providing around $50 million to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) this year to
support the project of laying underground power cables in the Kathmandu Valley.
This will support NEA’s plan to expand distribution network in the Valley. This
support is being extended, as NEA is planning to increase electricity
consumption in the Valley from around 400 MW to 2,000 MW.
What other energy projects is
the ADB eyeing in Nepal?
Yokoyama: We will
help prepare the detailed design of [300MW] Dudhkoshi [Storage] Hydroelectric
Project. We are also looking at the possibility of helping build east-west
transmission line, and 410MW Nalsing Gad Storage Hydroelectric Project under
the public-private partnership model.
These are pretty big projects. Over the years, the ADB
has started investing in smaller number of bigger projects so as to create an
impact in the development works of the country.
One of the these projects is the Second Phase of Melamchi
Drinking Water Project, which aims to bring in additional 340 million litres of
water to the Valley per day from Yangri and Larke rivers. Other projects
include: final phase of Tribhuvan International Airport expansion project,
expansion of Mugling-Pokhara road segment, and regional urban integrated infrastructure
improvement project, which aims to develop crucial urban infrastructure in
Biratnagar, Birgunj, Nepalgunj and Bhairahawa. These projects, according to
Yokoyama, are “ready for approval”.
“This means we can commit $500 million every year for
Nepal, but we are intending to start will $400 million from next year and see
how the implementation takes place,” says Yokoyama, who likes walking around
ancient alleys of Kathmandu, Patan and Bakhtapur, and staying in old Buddhist
temples. The ADB currently provides $300-$350 million per year to Nepal.
But since the ADB channels all its funds through the
state coffers, it will definitely need the government’s support to make proper
and timely use of the available budget.
To begin with, the government should end the practice of
extending project completion deadline without any justification, says Yokoyama,
who joined the ADB in April 1999. “The Office of the Auditor General should
look into these issues and sound alarm bells, because contractors must be made
aware that they were hired to complete projects on time. If this is not
controlled, the government will never be able to increase capital spending.”
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