KATHMANDU, AUG 31 - With land acquisition turning into a major problem for infrastructure projects, the government is preparing a new Land Acquisition Act to address issues of land compensation and obstructions at project sites. The Land Acquisition Act bill that is under discussion among ministries also seeks to help private companies to acquire lands through the government. It says the government can acquire land for them if their work is related to public interest. The bill talks of taking strong action against those who obstruct the land acquisition move. The proposed bill has made a provision of a one-year jail term or fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 or both for those involved in hooliganism, manhandling government officials working for land acquisition and vandalising equipment. Of late, a number of infrastructure projects that include track opening of the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, Dry ports in Larcha near Tatopani and Krishnanagar, some portion of the Postal Highway, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s 132KV transmission lines around Kathmandu Valley have been affected due to obstructions by locals demanding hefty compensation. “Most of the big infrastructure projects have been victims of compensation demands that are hard to meet,” said Puspa Lal Shakya, the joint secretary of the National Planning Commission (NPC) that monitors P1 Projects. “Given the government’s failure to start the project early by paying compensation, locals go on making more demands.” In recent years, the trend of raising the price of land by locals, right after the announcement of big projects by the government, has increased. This has forced the government to pay much more than the plots of land actually cost. For example, locals near the proposed dry port at Larcha, Sindupalchowk, demanded Rs 500,000 per ropani of land breaching their agreement of Rs 100,000 per ropani. After the government talked about relocating the dry port to Panchkhal, the local people agreed to a compensation amount of Rs 210,000. Mohan Banjade, the secretary of Nepal Law Commission that drafted the bill, said the new law was drafted to ease the process of acquiring land for public good. “It is an initial draft and there can be many changes after discussions with stakeholders,” he said. Often times, realty traders have been found buying land on a cheaper rate and then increasing the price. “One step to discourage such a tendency could be imposing capital gain tax on land whose value went up after the project implementation,” Shakya said. As the existing Act is ambiguous about helping private companies in acquiring land, the proposed bill has provisioned that the government can acquire the plots for them if their work is of public interest. “However, the government will not acquire land for them for their economic and financial interests and imaginative potential of benefits for the general public,” the proposed law states. “What is needed is a certain provision on how the private sector could acquire land for the projects that also serve the public interest,” Banjade said. With the existing Act allowing land acquisition for limited purposes, the proposed bill has broadened the areas of public interest for which land can be acquired. It says that the government could acquire land anywhere and of any quantity in the country for work that will benefit the public. It says land can be acquired for public projects initiated by the government, local government and the public entity as well as private sector companies. The proposed bill has also provisioned that land can be acquired for providing residential facilities to the President and the prime minister, collective housing facilities for public personalities and for the security agencies. Infrastructure development, land development work and giving land to diplomatic missions are other purposes of land acquisition, according to the Act. Troublesome attempts Locals living around the proposed dry port site in Larcha had agreed to compensation of Rs 100,000 per ropani of land, but they later demanded Rs 500,000. After the government talked about relocating the dry port to Panchkhal, the local people agreed to a compensation amount of Rs 210,000. Track opening of the fast track connecting Kathmandu to Bara was affected due to high compensation demands in Makawanpur where about 40 percent land through which the first track goes is owed by the public. Nepal Electricity Authority has not been able to expand transmission lines surrounding the Kathmandu valley due to obstruction by Harisiddhi locals who have been demanding hefty compensation for land to be used by the transmission lines. Source:the-kathmandu-post
With land acquisition turning into a major problem for infrastructure projects, the government is preparing a new Land Acquisition Act to address issues of land compensation and obstructions at project sites.
The Land Acquisition Act bill that is under discussion among ministries also seeks to help private companies to acquire lands through the government. It says the government can acquire land for them if their work is related to public interest.
The bill talks of taking strong action against those who obstruct the land acquisition move. The proposed bill has made a provision of a one-year jail term or fine of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 or both for those involved in hooliganism, manhandling government officials working for land acquisition and vandalising equipment. Of late, a number of infrastructure projects that include track opening of the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, Dry ports in Larcha near Tatopani and Krishnanagar, some portion of the Postal Highway, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)’s 132KV transmission lines around Kathmandu Valley have been affected due to obstructions by locals demanding hefty compensation. “Most of the big infrastructure projects have been victims of compensation demands that are hard to meet,” said Puspa Lal Shakya, the joint secretary of the National Planning Commission (NPC) that monitors P1 Projects. “Given the government’s failure to start the project early by paying compensation, locals go on making more demands.” In recent years, the trend of raising the price of land by locals, right after the announcement of big projects by the government, has increased. This has forced the government to pay much more than the plots of land actually cost. For example, locals near the proposed dry port at Larcha, Sindupalchowk, demanded Rs 500,000 per ropani of land breaching their agreement of Rs 100,000 per ropani. After the government talked about relocating the dry port to Panchkhal, the local people agreed to a compensation amount of Rs 210,000. Mohan Banjade, the secretary of Nepal Law Commission that drafted the bill, said the new law was drafted to ease the process of acquiring land for public good. “It is an initial draft and there can be many changes after discussions with stakeholders,” he said. Often times, realty traders have been found buying land on a cheaper rate and then increasing the price. “One step to discourage such a tendency could be imposing capital gain tax on land whose value went up after the project implementation,” Shakya said. As the existing Act is ambiguous about helping private companies in acquiring land, the proposed bill has provisioned that the government can acquire the plots for them if their work is of public interest. “However, the government will not acquire land for them for their economic and financial interests and imaginative potential of benefits for the general public,” the proposed law states. “What is needed is a certain provision on how the private sector could acquire land for the projects that also serve the public interest,” Banjade said. With the existing Act allowing land acquisition for limited purposes, the proposed bill has broadened the areas of public interest for which land can be acquired. It says that the government could acquire land anywhere and of any quantity in the country for work that will benefit the public. It says land can be acquired for public projects initiated by the government, local government and the public entity as well as private sector companies. The proposed bill has also provisioned that land can be acquired for providing residential facilities to the President and the prime minister, collective housing facilities for public personalities and for the security agencies. Infrastructure development, land development work and giving land to diplomatic missions are other purposes of land acquisition, according to the Act. Troublesome attempts
Source:the-kathmandu-post