MANILA: The Asian Development Bank has approved a 40-million-dollar soft loan for Nepal to improve roads and bridges in areas torn by a Maoist insurgency.
The project will extend the network of roads, trails, and pedestrian bridges in 18 districts, including 14 districts in the Western, Midwestern, and Far Western regions.
A Maoist insurgency seeking to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy has left thousands of people dead over the past eight years, according to official estimates.
The bank said most of the Himalayan kingdom's 6,600 kilometers (4,092 miles) of roads are earthen. A number of districts have no roads at all. Most people in remote hill and mountain districts live more than a day's walk from a road.
"Such deprivation, inequality, and discrimination have contributed to the spread of the conflict in Nepal," said project economist Brian Fawcett.
The bank loan accounts for 64 percent of the project cost and is payable over 32 years at low interest. Switzerland and Germany are cofinancing the project.
The bank will also give a 400,000-dollar technical assistance grant to Nepal.
- AFP
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Sunday, September 26, 2004
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