KATHMANDU: The government, which has always been criticised, deserves accolades for two reasons at the moment. First, it prepared a comprehensive report on Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) on time. Also, the report, which identifies damage and losses suffered by the country during the earthquakes of April and May and funding needs for early recovery, is said to be ‘credible’ by many development partners. When the National Planning Commission (NPC) officially started conducting PDNA on May 15, many expressed doubts on whether it would be able to complete assessments of damage, losses and needs on time. This was because of the legacy of messy bureaucracy, which is largely inefficient and does not mind postponing deadlines. But the NPC led a team of 497 officials of all ministries and various development partners, made everyone work for extended hours, and prepared the report on time. On the basis of this report, the government was able to hold the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction today. Little wonder, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the conference: “I would like to congratulate NPC for their comprehensive recovery needs assessment .... which will be the framework for donors to finalise their relief packages and pledges.” Because of this credible report, the one-day conference held in the Capital turned out to be a big success. The success of the conference can be measured by simply looking at the funding commitments made by various countries and agencies, which stood at $4.4 billion, or almost 66 per cent of the total early recovery needs of the country. This was the second feat of the government since the devastating earthquake of April 25. And these developments have started trickling a feel good factor in the country, which suffered damage and losses worth Rs 706 billion due to the quakes. But these recent achievements should not allow the government to rest on its laurels because key sectors are weak, and the country faces looming threat of slower growth and higher inflation. So, the real challenge begins now. In this regard, government officials should work with similar energy as during the period when they were preparing the PDNA report. In other words, groundwork should be immediately laid to convert foreign aid commitments into real transfer of funds. For this, decision-making process should be expedited, and those decisions should also be implemented immediately. But past experiences show the government failing on this front. For instance, the government took years to transfer ownership of its own land from one government agency to the other to build container freight station at Chobhar in Kathmandu. Later, the World Bank, which was funding the project, even issued a warning to cancel the project if the land acquisition process was not completed by September 2015. This problem has now been solved. But possibilities of repetition of such negligence cannot be ruled out. And if such mishaps occur, the government’s plan of relocating settlements from disaster-prone areas may take a longer time, creating frustrations among people, who are still living in makeshift camps. Also, the government needs to follow up on various commitments made by foreigners at the conference. Commitments made today are not only in the form of financial aid. Some countries and agencies have pledged non-financial support. Such support, which could transfer knowledge or technology, may help the country in the long run. So, the government must pursue these matters effectively. Last but not the least, the government must enhance its spending capacity — a problem which has emerged as the biggest speed bump on the way towards transforming the country. Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, in his opening remarks at the conference, said: “A joint concern of both the government and our development partners in recent years has been the quality and pattern of public expenditures. We have been underspending on capital investment.” Not to let the same bureaucratic and political hurdles decelerate the urgent task of rebuilding, the government has boldly announced the creation of the National Reconstruction Authority, Mahat added. Like the Finance Minister, many government officials have now identified the authority as a cure for all the bureaucratic ills in the country. This is because the extra-ordinary mechanism has been given sweeping powers to expedite decision-making, land acquisition, procurement and many other processes. For now, many are willing to give the benefit of doubt to the government. And if the mechanism succeeds in putting recovery and reconstruction on a fast track, Nepal, as said by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, will ‘rise like phoenix’. If not, people as well as foreign well wishers, who made funding commitments today, will once again be disappointed.