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Quake-stricken Nepal to seek funds from AIIB to rebuild

BAKU — Nepal will seek financial help from the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure that was badly damaged by last month’s earthquake, Nepal’s Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat has said.

BAKU — Nepal will seek financial help from the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure that was badly damaged by last month’s earthquake, Nepal’s Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat has said.

The AIIB is expected to be set up this year, and Nepal could be its first customer.

Mr Mahat, who was in the Azerbaijan capital to attend an annual general meeting of Asian Development Bank, told Kyodo News that Nepal needs the AIIB’s help to rebuild damaged roads, government buildings and other infrastructural facilities.

The Nepalese government is in the process of assessing the costs to build new houses, rebuild road systems and World Heritage sites that were damaged in the massive earthquake that hit the country on April 25, Mr Mahat said.

It takes time to find out the exact extent of the damage, he said.

The 7.8-magnitude quake killed more than 7,300 people, destroyed nearly 141,000 houses, severed road systems and damaged centuries-old buildings in the Kathmandu Valley that have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

According to the Nepal Engineering Association, 10 per cent of houses still standing in Kathmandu are unsafe to live in. The United Nations has estimated that Nepal will need more than US$400 million (S$533 million) in humanitarian assistance alone.

As the rainy season starts in Nepal later this month, Nepal needs to build temporary housing for the poor people whose houses were destroyed by the quake, Mr Mahat told a meeting of potential donors on Sunday.

The ADB, based in Manila, pledged an additional US$300 million loan to Nepal on Sunday.

Yesterday, the European Union approved €20 million (S$29.7 million) in financial support and emergency aid to Nepal.

Beyond the €16.6 million in financial support and €3 million in emergency aid, EU Commissioner Neven Mimica said “as soon as the needs assessments are completed, we will look into how we can further assist”.

Nepalese Information Minister Minendra Rijal said that in two to three weeks a serious reconstruction package needs to be developed, and “we’ll need enormous help from the international community”, adding that there would be a “huge, huge funding gap.”

Nine days after the quake, Nepal has also asked foreign countries to wrap up search and rescue operations. The Chief of India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which was among the first foreign organisations to arrive after the quake, said it had been asked by the Nepalese government to conclude its search and rescue operation.

“All the search and rescue teams, not the relief (teams) ... have been asked to return,” NDRF Director-General OP Singh told Indian television. “We will see how best it can be done.”

Soon, Mr Rijal added, the nation will be shifting away from a rescue mode and “will be concentrating more on relief operations.” AGENCIES

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