[Nepal] $55.2 mn ADB grant for Nepal roads

from Nerve News

Manila, Aug 11 - Nepal will receive a $55.2 million grant from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for expanding and rehabilitating its feeder road system.

'Rehabilitating and expanding feeder roads will help promote inclusive social and economic development,' said Nianshan Zhang, an ADB portfolio management specialist, in a statement Friday.

'Improved access of remote people to social facilities and jobs in major towns will foster a social and economic development process that can lead to a steady decline in poverty.'

The project is the first new investment to be approved by ADB for Nepal since December 2004, and the country's first to be financed under the bank's Asian Development Fund.

Under the project, 10 feeder roads and one bridge will be constructed and upgraded to a total of about 490 km, serving poor, isolated people mainly in hilly areas.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $80 million, with the OPEC Fund for International Development providing a $10 million loan to finance civil works. The Nepal government will shoulder the balance of $14.8 million.

Nepal's ministry of physical planning and works is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion around December 2012.