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Kathmandu, Feb 9: Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa has said Nepal’s slow pace of infrastructure development is rooted not in surface-level issues but in deep system failures.

In a video message, Thapa said giving directives, intimidating contractors, or scolding officials in a “magic trick” manner will not deliver development. He claimed he has a clear plan to overhaul the infrastructure sector within the next five years.

Referring to the Narayanghat–Butwal road section, the East-West Highway, and the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, Thapa said the miserable state of these national pride projects shows that the old way of doing things no longer works. He described a situation where major projects remain stalled for years, and city roads are repeatedly dug up due to poor coordination, resulting in nothing short of chaos.

He pointed out that roads get dug soon after construction for water pipelines, then again for sewer lines and fibre cables. This, he said, not only raises costs but also causes the country to lose a large opportunity cost. Thapa said his long experience in Parliament, parliamentary committees, and ministries has allowed him to closely observe these problems.

According to him, outdated laws are a major reason behind delays in infrastructure projects. He said the 48-year-old Roads Act and the 20-year-old Public Procurement Act no longer meet present needs. His study shows that around three dozen laws need amendment, revision, or repeal to complete projects on time. Without legal reform, he said, public noise alone will not deliver results.

Thapa criticized the procurement system for focusing only on the lowest bid, saying it sacrifices both quality and time. He proposed giving priority to the value of time, adding that legal provisions should favor contractors who can complete work faster, drawing lessons from India and other countries.

He stressed that transparency and mandatory social audits are necessary to ensure good governance in infrastructure development. Regulatory bodies should be strengthened, he said, but not interfered with to the point where they cannot function.

Thapa also said the practice of announcing big projects without securing funding must end. He suggested mobilizing investment through tools such as public asset monetization and the Hybrid Annuity Model.

Five-year pledge

Thapa said past attempts to fix problems by threatening to cancel contracts or verbally abusing officials have failed. Only institutional capacity building and legal reform can deliver results.

“If we believe problems will be solved through magical fixes, we will lose another five years,” he said, adding that he wants to assure people he can bring real change in the infrastructure sector within five years.

He pledged to establish a system where projects that usually take ten or twelve years are completed within one or two years with proper quality. Thapa said the Nepali Congress will play a leading role in ending the hardship and frustration faced by citizens due to delayed and poor infrastructure works.

People’s News Monitoring Service