OAG asks Fast Track project to clarify

KATHMANDU:

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) has found itself in a soup over its old decision to compensate people using government-owned land in Makawanpur district. The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has asked ministry to clarify on it, stating that spending Rs 300 million for the purpose was against existing law.

The compensation was distributed to the people residing on unregistered land for over a 20-year period, to acquire land for the proposed 76-km Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road. After distribution of the compensation, the government was able to get the land and open the track in Makawanpur, where around 61 km of the expressway falls.

“The compensation was provided based on a recommendation of a high-level committee four years ago,” said an official at MoPIT,

who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. The official added that if the ministry had not provided the compensation, it would not have been possible to open the track in Makawanpur.

However, OAG argues that the distribution of compensation to dwellers on such government-owned land is against the norm of Land

Acquisition Act. Recently, it had also sought clarification regarding the issue with the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road Project Office.

A high-level committee had been formed under Chet Nath Ghimire, former deputy attorney general, to facilitate the land acquisition for Fast Track project after people living on the land made hefty demands for compensation. They had claimed they had been living in the area for generations, even though they did not have the required documentation.

The committee recommended that the government provide compensation of 75 per cent of the land price fixed by the Compensation Fixation Committee to the settlers who did not have land ownership certificate.

The MoPIT official said they spent Rs 300 million as compensation for people who had to give up the land they were using for more than 20 years but had no legal document to certify their ownership.

In October 2011, the Compensation Fixation Committee under the District Administration Office of Makawanpur had fixed compensation rate of Rs 110,000 to Rs 280,000 per 3,645 sq ft (per kitta) depending on productivity of the land.

Based on recommendation of Ghimire-led committee, MoPIT had decided to compensate locals of Makawanpur who lacked land ownership certificate. The committee was formed as per decision of the Cabinet in January 2011 amid difficulties to expedite land

acquisition for Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track road project.

At that time, the panel had also advised the government to provide additional 10 per cent of the compensation to those who would be compelled to relinquish all of their land for the project. The committee’s report had found that around 70 per cent of the land that needed to be acquired for the project was owned by the government, while remaining was registered under various local people’s names.

OAG’s recent annual report shows that the government spent a total of Rs 2.59 billion as of last fiscal year for the Fast Track project. The amount includes Rs 1.65 billion for land compensation and other expenses and Rs 944.45 million as fee to Nepal Army for the job of track opening.

Source: THT