KATHMANDU: A week has passed since the Cabinet approved the formation of a high level special garbage management committee. But another committee mandated to work out on the expenditures is dilly-dallying, which has affected the job of the garbage management committee.

The Finance Committee of the Council of Ministers, which is to begin sorting out the expenses for the project, is yet to commence its job, mainly on the expenditure front.

“The file has not yet been forwarded to our ministry; and therefore, the garbage management work by including the private sector, has been delayed,” said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD).

In an effort to manage the garbage in a sustainable manner, the government had allocated a budget in the current fiscal year, mainly to set up a garbage-fuelled industry in the Valley.

“The Finance Committee in coordination with the Ministry of Finance should approve the budget for this purpose. We have proposed expenses of about Rs 4 million for three months of the committee,” said Dr Sumitra Amatya, general manager of the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre.

As per the working plan of the MoLD, an agreement must be signed between the committee and the private sector, no later than November 15. Only then, it will be possible to set up the proposed garbage-fuelled industry in the Valley.

The 13-member committee headed by a member of the National Planning Commission comprises of secretaries from nearly a dozen ministries, representatives from the SWMRMC and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, and two experts.