Kathmandu, July 3:

A special mission of the Asian Development Bank is visiting Nepal this week. It will review the developments in the ADB-funded Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP).

The mission will give a green signal to the project, which was technically terminated in June-end, a senior official of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works said.

“The mission is scheduled to arrive here this week,” he said.

He said that the mission will also discuss proposals forwarded to the ADB by the ministry in its letters and through a delegation that visited the bank’s headquarters in Manila.

“Relations between the ministry and the ADB had soured a bit due to difference of preferences. Now, several rounds of meetings scheduled here will be ice-breaking ones. The meetings will give us an opportunity to make our stand on the project clear,” he said. He added that the ministry will reiterate that Nepal needs the ADB’s support in carrying out the project.

The official also said that the Ministry is not making any special preparation for the meetings, as “we don’t have an idea of what proposal the bank has for us.”

An ADB official here said the mission is scheduled to arrive here in early July but that the date has not been fixed.