PM inaugurates Chobhar dry port
KATHMANDU: APRIL. 5 – Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated a dry port in Chobhar, Kathmandu, on Tuesday. Prime Minister Deuba stated during the inauguration ceremony that the dry port would facilitate Nepal’s import, export, and foreign trade.
He stated that while building a railway to Kathmandu and transporting goods by rail would be less expensive, mobilizing the railway’s resources would be difficult.
“It would have been cheaper to bring goods by rail,” he explained, “but building a railway is expensive.” We can accomplish this by obtaining low-interest loans or grants from donors. However, because you must be able to repay the loan, you must proceed with caution. Otherwise, we’ll only get ourselves into more trouble.’
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that Chobhar dry port would facilitate our foreign trade. He said that the government is focusing on increasing the foreign exchange reserves as the foreign exchange reserves are currently only 6.6 months of imports.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajendra KC, MP from Kirtipur, Kathmandu, said that the people of Chobhar, who have been suffering from dust and smoke due to Himal Cement for years, will now get rid of such a situation. He also demanded the construction of an international exhibition hall on the vacant land of Chobhar.
The program was attended by the employees of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and the concerned ministries.
The port has been constructed by the Nepal Inter Model Transport Development Committee at the site of the production plant of the Himal Cement Industry at Chobhar. With the aim of completing the construction in one and a half years (18 months), the construction of the port, which was started on Magh 3, 2075 BS (17 January 2019), has been completed in more than two and a half years and 27 months.
The joint venture company of Nepali company Ashish Construction and Chinese company Sakshi had took the contract for the construction of the port at a cost of Rs 1.60 billion. A structure for yard maintenance with three gates, a customs office building, a quarantine building, three warehouse buildings, and three modes of transportation has been built on an area of 220 ropanis. The port can handle 500 containers and 500 vehicles.
According to the Intermodal Transport Company, the physical infrastructure of the port took more than nine months to build due to local obstructions and cobblestones. According to the committee, physical infrastructure construction has been halted for 14 months due to various obstacles.
It is expected that the goods brought to Kathmandu will be brought directly to Chobhar and cleared through customs after the construction of the dry port is completed.
Lawmaking, working procedures, preparation of manpower, and management of other bodies are being done.
The customs department expects that arrangements can be made to check the goods entering Nepal from the Chinese side.
If the construction of the Kathmandu-Nijgadh Expressway is expedited, the load of goods is expected to increase in this port. There is a general expectation that transportation costs and hassle will be reduced by bringing goods directly from Nijgadh and checking them.
At present, Kalanki is the main gateway for bringing goods to Kamathamadu from various customs points. However, traffic jams at the checkpoint have increased the time and cost of transportation.
For the dry port’s operation, the government will need to create 31 separate positions. For the quarantine check of goods arriving at customs, a quarantine check post, police, and a managerial security team should be set up.
