NIA will generate several economic opportunities

The fate of Nijgadh International Airport in Bara district has become uncertain after the Supreme Court on December 22 continued the interim order of December 6 to halt all field works at the construction site. The SC’s direction followed a writ petition filed on August 22 expressing concerns related to the environmental impact of felling a large number of trees that are 500 to 600 years old at the project site. The stay order has thrown out of gear the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation’s plans to commence construction of the mega project this year. Centred around this issue, Arpana Ale Magar of The Himalayan Times caught up with Secretary of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Kedar Bahadur Adhikari to know further about the challenges of NIA and with Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment Bishwa Nath Oli to know about the current situation facing the country’s forest areas and existing rules on felling trees for development projects. Excerpts:

NIA will generate several economic opportunities

-Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Secretary of MoCTCA

Firstly, could you explain the significance of NIA?

The major question is whether or not we want to improve our status from being one of the least developed countries. Nepal still does not have a full-fledged airport that can take advantages of air business. A full-fledged airport means having more than a single runway, terminal building, cargo building and big hangars, and aircraft maintenance centre, airport hotel and other infrastructure. NIA will have the capacity to handle 60 million passengers annually, which in turn will generate several economic opportunities. And for all these benefits, we are building NIA. NIA will support not only tourism and aviation sectors but also help diversify our trade through reliable cargo services. It could help the country meet the target of double digit growth. NIA is something the country needs, rather than just an object of desire. That is why this airport is a game changer project for the country’s economy.

What are the challenges for NIA construction?

Forest clearance at the construction site is the major challenge for us at present. Although the Environment Impact Assessment of the project has already been approved, we are yet to receive permission from the Ministry of Forests and Environment to fell trees for site clearance. Earlier we planned to select the contractor and clear the site simultaneously as the latter would take a bit longer time because after receiving permission from the forest ministry, we have to go through the tender process for site clearance. However, things didn’t go as per our plan. While some stakeholders are unable to comprehend our plan, we will move ahead after striking consensus among all the concerned authorities.

The Supreme Court recently decided to continue its interim order to halt felling trees at NIA. What is MoCTCA’s view on this decision?

This is just an interim order and not a final verdict of the SC. We have been informed that the order will only affect field work while we can still do other policy level works for the airport. We are hoping that the final verdict of the SC will be positive and we will receive a go-ahead for airport construction. Sometimes we have to lose something to gain something better. We hope that SC understands the country’s developmental needs. For now we have no other option than to wait for the final verdict.

What are the objections of the forest ministry?

Firstly, we had requested the forest ministry to allow us to cut down trees in around 2,500 hectares of land, which it rejected. Back then they had inquired whether all of that land was needed for the airport construction. Later our study showed that only 1,900 hectares of land is needed for the airport. We again sent another proposal to the forest ministry including all these details. Thus, we don’t have any issues with the forest ministry. But the apex court took a decision of halting field work around the same time that the forest ministry was finally taking a decision on site clearance process. This has delayed the airport construction. It has led us to suspect whether efforts are being made to drop this project.

Apart from the environmental issues, what are the other processes that the government is currently working on?

The government has recently shortlisted Zürich International Airport for NIA construction. Now we are waiting for their business proposals for NIA construction and operation. Selection of Zürich was the best decision as we have decided to operate this airport as per public-private partnership (PPP) modality. We don’t need to worry about its investment capacity, so investment will not be a problem. Soon we will ask them to submit proposals for investment and construction modalities. After they submit their project plan, we will negotiate based on our requirements for NIA.

And what about the previous detailed feasibility study prepared by the South Korean firm Landmark Worldwide?

We may have owed them if we had used the DFS that they had submitted. But as we have now decided to construct the airport according to PPP model, that DFS is no longer contextual. And the detailed project report (DPR) too is not a problem for NIA construction. We have enough documents that precisely explain the requirements of the airport. The DPR will be prepared by the Zürich Airport if we award the project to them. The construction company itself has to make DPR and we will give our inputs on this. Moreover, if the private sector does not build the airport, the Nepal government is capable enough to build it on its own. The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has also prepared DFS of this project. Based on that study we can take the project forward.

The new Forest Act aims to facilitate development projects

-Bishwa Nath Oli, Secretary of MoFE

What are the criteria for providing forest area to development projects?

The forest ministry has recently implemented a completely new Forest Act 2019 from October 20 that has replaced the earlier Forest Act 1992. We also implemented the Environment Protection Act 2019 from the same date. The Forest Act has mentioned that a development project has to submit Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to the forest ministry based on the project scale. As the older act needed to be reviewed to make it more contextual, we have brought the new act for the preservation of forests and the environment. The new Forest Act has provisioned to provide forest area for national priority projects under section 10. Section 10 has mentioned that development projects have to submit EIA, detailed project report (DPR) or detailed engineering design to the ministry while proposing forest area for the project. Likewise, a secretary-level recommendation from the respective ministry also needs to be submitted to prove the project is a national priority project.

What is the provision of felling trees for development projects?

Along with the new Forest Act, we have recently approved a framework to provide forest area to national priority projects. And the framework has mentioned that if any development project uses forest land, the project has to provide land equal to the area covered by the forest. As per the rule, development projects have to pay around Rs 1.4 million to Rs 1.5 million per hectare to use forest land. And if any development project has to cut down trees, it has to plant 10 trees for every one tree. In the late 90s, forest area covered 39 per cent of land in Nepal, while the latest data of 2015 shows that forest area has now reached 44.74 per cent of the total land. So we have reduced the number of trees that need to be planted compulsorily for felling trees in project sites. The earlier act had mentioned that 25 trees needed to be planted in place of one tree. If the project is not able to provide the land, then the act has also included a provision where the developer can compensate by paying the amount based on the valuation of the forest area. Once the project developer decides on one of the two options for acquiring the forest land, we will send the proposal to the Cabinet for approval.

But if project developers can simply pay for the forest area instead of compulsorily planting trees, how will the forests be preserved?

Earlier, we faced problems whereby project developers planted trees only for the sake of it. Some even planted invasive species of trees in the forest areas that adversely affected the ecological balance. The new rule is aimed at addressing this challenge while facilitating the development projects at the same time. But this does not mean that we are no longer taking care of the forests. The new Forest Act has introduced a provision of establishing a Forest Development Fund (FDF). The amount collected from the projects for permitting them to use forest area and cut trees will be used completely for forest development. From the collected amount, we will plant trees and organise programmes to preserve forests. The act is very strict about the collected amount to ensure that it is not misused. Soon we will implement the guideline of FDF too.

So, where will the trees be planted from this fund? A recent study conducted by the department under the forest ministry has revealed that 106 local units out of the 753 do not have forest areas. Technically, the trees have to cover at least half a hectare of land to be considered a forest. So, the 106 local levels do not have a forest. So, we will be planting trees in the open areas of these 106 local units. Likewise, trees will be planted in open areas at community-based forests, forests preserved by the government, among others. Likewise, there is a lot of public land where we can develop a forest. Thus, we have enough places for compensatory plantation. Already more than 50 per cent of local demand for wood is being supplied by private forest areas. The amount collected in this fund will not be added to the central treasury of the ministry.