Promoting Public Private Partnership (3 PERM) for Earthquake Risk Management

Transcription

1 Promoting Public Private Partnership (3 PERM) for Earthquake Risk Management A Report on National Workshop on Private Sector Engagement in Pilot Urban Regeneration Program in Kathmandu City Core National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) September 2012

2 TABLE OF CONTENT 1. Introduction Background Workshop Participants Workshop proceeding Welcome and Opening Session Presentation Session Panel Discussion What Next/ Workshop Outcome Concluding Session Workshop Outcomes... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Benefits... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Challenges... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3 Way Forward... Error! Bookmark not defined. ANNEXES... 9 Annex 1. List of Participants... Error! Bookmark not defined. Annex 2. Glimpses of the Workshop... 20

3 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Earthquakes are an unavoidable part of Kathmandu Valley s future, just as they have been a part of its past. However, a large earthquake near the Kathmandu Valley today would cause significantly greater human loss, physical damage, and economic crisis than caused by past earthquakes. With the valley s burgeoning population of almost 2 1/2 million people, uncontrolled development, and a construction practice that has actually degraded over this century, the valley is becoming increasingly vulnerable to earthquakes with each passing year. Despite this growing risk, there is no organized approach to managing earthquake risk in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal s political, economic, administrative, and cultural capital. The settlements of Kathmandu Valley present a special case because of the historical importance of its buildings in the city core areas. There is an urgent need to enhance seismic performance of existing buildings in heritage areas, where the buildings are very old, many in dilapidated conditions, and many subject to vertical division due to the existing inheritance regulations. This complex situation will present unmanageable problem for reconstruction in a post earthquake situation. Realizing the urgency NSET conceptualized the plan of Sustainable Urban Regeneration Process as a tool for disaster management of city core areas. Under the program Promoting Public Private Partnership for Earthquake Risk Management (3PERM) supported by the United States Agency for International Development/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), NSET conducted the Feasibility study of Urban Regeneration of a part of Kathmandu Core City Area as a DRM activity. In association with Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), NSET is preparing to implement urban regeneration in the city core area of Kathmandu, i.e.; Ward No: 23 and some parts of Ward-21 as a pilot program. In order to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Public private partnership for the urban regeneration in the city core areas of Kathmandu, i.e.; Ward No: 23 and some parts of Ward- 21, and to share the initiatives taken so far, a Half-day Workshop on Private Sector Engagement in Pilot Urban Regeneration Program in Kathmandu City Core was organized on September 16, 2012 at the DUDBC Meeting Hall, BabarMahal, Kathmandu. The workshop was organized in line with the World Habitat Day The workshop was jointly organized by Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), UNHABITAT, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) and National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) with support from USAID/OFDA. This a brief report of the Workshop held in Kathmandu Nepal. Workshop Objectives The specific objective of the workshop was to; Make the stakeholders familiar on the concept of urban regeneration in the city core areas Develop consensus on the various aspects related to the implementation of the project Get the involvement of the government, private organization and community members for the implementation of the concept

4 2 Collectively address, questions, concerns and issues raised Share what has been done so far 1.2 Workshop Participants There were approximately one hundred participants at the workshop representing local and central government agencies such as Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee, KMC, KMC 23 Ward Office, private sector, housing sector, media people, local leaders and residents of the pilot site. The list of participants is included in Annex I. 2. WORKSHOP PROCEEDING The half day workshop comprised of an opening session followed by a technical session, panel discussion and a concluding session. 2.1 Welcome and Opening Session The opening session of the workshop was attended by high level officials from Ministry of Urban Development, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFA&LD), Kathmandu Valley Town Development Authority (KVTDA), Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office (KMC) and UNDP. Dr. Mahendra Subba, Director General, DUDBC, chaired the opening session and Mr. Kishore Thapa, Secretary; MoUD was the chief guest of the session. Mr. Reshmi Raj Pandey, Joint Secretary, MoFA&LD, Mr. Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Executive Officer,KMC, Ms Jenty Chriswood, UNDP and Ms Moira Reddick, Coordinator, NRRC, Mr. Amod Dixit, Executive Director NSET, Mr. Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, Senior Vice President, FNCCI and Mr. Shambhu KC, Deputy Director General ( DDG), DUDBC were the other guests during the session. Mr. Shambhu KC, DDG, DUDBC in his welcome remarks mentioned that the organization of the workshop with the involvement of major actors (Government, Private, CSOs and the Public) in itself was a great achievement. He further highlighted other activities that were planned for the celebration of World Habitat Day 2012 in addition to this workshop. Mr. Amod Dixit, Executive Director, NSET briefed on the earthquake hazard/risk of Kathmandu Valley and the need of urban regeneration in the city core areas of the valley. He also informed about the program Public Private Partnership for Earthquake Risk Management (3PERM), being implemented by NSET. Mr. Dixit further pointed out that while working towards earthquake risk reduction the missing part had been the involvement of private sector; therefore one of the specific objectives of the workshop was to explore the areas of private sector engagement in the pilot urban regeneration program.

5 3 Talking about the objective of the workshop he mentioned that the workshop was organized - to learn and to share what has been done so far towards implementing urban regeneration in the Kathmandu city core areas and thus build Elements of Consensus; and to collectively address questions, issues raised, and concerns. Mr. Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, Senior Vice President, FNCCI, in his remarks mentioned that the private sector is equally concerned on the increasing earthquake risk in Kathmandu Valley and is thankful to the government and NSET for involving private sector in this initiative towards risk reduction. Mr. Rajkarnikar further expressed his commitment that FNCCI will be a part of this endeavour and equally participate in the next steps to be taken towards risk reduction. Ms Moira Reddick, Coordinator, Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) in her remarks pointed out that the though the task is enormous, the most important is that we all have a shared understanding of the risk we are facing, a shared understanding of what the consequences would be when the big earthquake strikes and a shared understanding of how we work together before and afterwards. She further added that according to the previous experiences in most of the disaster cases it is the private sector that comes forward and takes leadership which makes the role of private sector very important. Ms Jenty Chriswood, UNDP, in her remarks thanked the organizers for bringing together the major stakeholders who can help, protect and can ensure a safe green and pleasant Kathmandu City. She further added that the workshop can contribute to a shared partnership under the leadership of the government between the private sector, national and international organizations and citizens for a safe, green and healthy Kathmandu. Mr. Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Chief Executive Officer, KMC highlighted the need and the importance of the urban regeneration in the city core areas of Kathmandu and expressed KMC s commitment to support the implementation of the plan. Mr Adhikari further stressed that there has to be an overall Kathmandu Valley development master plan and all the government authorities such as KVDA, DUDBC, and KMC should work jointly towards implementing the plan before it is too late. Mr. Reshmi Raj Pandey, Joint Secretary, MoFA&LD expressed his positive remarks on the initiative and mentioned that it would be very pertinent in other core areas also. He further stressed that the role of private sector is very important in this sector. Mr. Kishore Thapa, Secretary; MoUD in his statement clarified that different stakeholder s understandings will be synthesized to prepare the strategy for this urban regeneration. And since this is a local issue, KMC will be the prime implementing agency and other stakeholders has to support KMC in this regard. Giving examples of successful regeneration cases within the country (Revival of Bhaktapur, Thamel, Hadigaun, Bandipur etc), Mr Thapa said that in country experience and experiences from around the world needs to be integrated along with the involvement of government and private sector; System of the Government, expertise and managing capabilities of private

6 4 sector needs to be integrated. Urban development is a dynamic process, one time investment is not enough continuous follow-up is needed, it has to be a continuous cycle. Although there have been some good examples in Kathmandu Valley yet there is lack of followup and continuity he said. He concluded his remarks stressing that urban regeneration in the city core areas of Kathmandu can be feasible with the model or the outcome derived from the workshop together with the leadership of KMC and therefore the workshop is very relevant; and will surely put forward a new model and action plan towards Public Private Partnership for urban regeneration. Dr. Mahendra Subba, Director General, DUDBC in his concluding remarks briefed on the evolution of the concept of the urban regeneration and how public private partnership came into existence in the regeneration concept. He pointed out that urban regeneration can be seen not only from smaller perspective/ community level perspective but also in terms of Valley wide perspective. We have to keep in mind that the concept has to be taken forward as a Process model rather than project or onetime event. And all the stakeholders the community, the local organizations, private sector have to merge together towards one common direction then only we can achieve the desired outcome he said. Mr. Subba added that realizing the need, DUDBC has already included urban regeneration in their yearly program since 2011 but still there were some critical issues in this regard such as; Lack of -legislative foundation for the operationalization of the concept, institutional arrangements and also there isn t any legislative and institutional arrangements yet formed for the programs led by community based organizations. He stressed that it will be a very good beginning if we think strategically not only from disaster perspective but also from social perspective, institutional perspective and the outcome of the workshop can be a guide map for future interventions. 2.2 Presentation Session The technical presentations were made by Mr. Surya Bhakta Sangachhe, Technical Advisor/ Project Manager 3PERM at NSET and Mr. Om Rajbhandari, Coordinator, Urban Development Forum, FNCCI Mr. Surya Bhakta Sangachhe gave a brief introduction of the Concept of Urban Regeneration of the City Core Areas of Kathmandu. The presentation covered the objectives, activities and outputs of the project, the approaches that will be taken in developing the urban regeneration plan. Mr. Sangachhe shared that the idea is for transforming the existing urban environment of the Kathmandu into a city of modern look with preservation of cultural heritage and Nepalese identity with enriched and strengthened social capital and relations by implementing the concept in a pilot area ( Daisa Galli Neighborhood, Part of Jhochhe/Chikanmugal Pilot Area, Ward Number 23 of Kathmandu). Sharing the examples of other countries he said that this type of program has been very successful in European countries. Mr. Sangachhe stressed on the need of the urban regeneration of the city core areas of Kathmandu city as an only alternative for making the cities disaster resilient and urged the community to identify the key issues and prioritize them with corresponding solutions in developing the urban regeneration plan.

7 5 Mr. Om Rajbhandari in his presentation gave a brief overview of the urban challenge faced by Kathmandu Valley and mentioned House Pooling as its only possible solutions. He pointed out the role of the government and the private sector towards house pooling or the urban regeneration and stressed that Private sector will have a major role in Capital Investment, Construction and Community Formation in this regard. 2.3 Panel Discussion The panel discussion was chaired by Mr. Suresh Prakash Acharya, Joint Secretary, MoUD and Ms. Lajana Manandhar (Community Representative), Ms. Liza Chogyal, PPP Expert, Mr. Shambhu KC, DDG, DUDBC, Mr. Bipin Chitrakar, Land and Housing Developers Association and Mr Hare Ram Shrestha, President SCAEF were the panellists. Lajana Manandhar: The concept of redevelopment and regeneration of the community is very significant. But there should be Public-Private and Community Partnership. If the communities are involved from the beginning then there wouldn t be the question of Handover and there will be a sense of ownership within the community. We have to give different options to the community and therefore we have to link urban regeneration with other projects also. There are still some concerns such as; who will take the leadership? Who will drive the whole project? How long will the project take? So these issues have to be made clear from the beginning for the successful implementation of the project. Liza Choygal, PPP Expert This urban regeneration project is very exciting, challenging and ambitious. Things work best when there is good business practice and risk reduction is basically a good business practice for all private sectors. Nepal s private sector especially the tourism sector will be very much interested and receptive in this. Let s not underestimate the power of markets, markets are aware of the earthquake risk of Kathmandu, and to be prepared is something that will go well from the demand side but most important of all has to be livelihood and security of people of Nepal and people of Kathmandu Valley. Bipin Chitrakar, Land and Housing Developers Association We were very interested in the involvement of private sector in urban regeneration since the very beginning. The private sector is ready to invest but there has to be certain rules and norms. The biggest challenge is the legal aspect. Hare Ram Shrestha, SCAEF This pilot project is very significant and the implementation should go into more details now. House pooling is not as easy as land pooling. For the success of the project it has to be community led and the driving force should be the government. The government should form appropriate policies and legislations and take the project forward.

8 6 Shambhu KC, DDG The project is one kind of a social project where the role of community is very important. Unless and until the community is involved the project will not be successful. There is an urgent need of the preparation of the operational guidelines clarifying the roles of each stakeholder in this project. The floor was then opened for discussion for further clarification on the topics presented and recommendations for the future works. The participants raised concerns on various aspects as follows; Pabitra Bajracharya, Community Representative Urban regeneration is the only alternative in the community but the community needs to be convinced beforehand on the feasibility of the project. The project should come as an example/ model project in the community. Sarita Maskey, DUDBC A lot of work has already been done in this project and it seems to give a Guideline before going to manual. House pooling is much more difficult than Land pooling. If there are 10 problems in Land Pooling Project then there will be 100 in the House pooling. Therefore we have to work in detail; we should first work on social/financial and cultural aspects then only work on the technical aspect. Bhusan Tuladhar, UN- Habitat There has to be a good communication strategy; how do we communicate this project to the beneficiaries. The project should invest a little bit more on communicating the program effectively; should hire a Communication Expert. There may be other good examples that can be used as an example to convince people and that can also be incorporated into the communication strategy. 2.4 What Next/ Workshop Outcome Mr Surya Narayan Shrestha, Deputy Executive Director, NSET summarized the points discussed in the workshop as follows; The concept of urban regeneration though very new to Nepal, has been very well discussed in the workshop and the outcome is that, There has been a consensus that the concept is very good and it has to be done at any costs and at the earliest possible.

9 7 Although it s very challenging, we can do it, we have to do it. There are lots of examples within country and outside the country. The pilot project in Kathmandu should be replicated to other cities of the country also. There was consensus on the need of urban regeneration to enhance the quality of life; to conserve the cultural heritage; to reduce the risk of earthquakes and disasters and for sustainability and economic development and diversification. Issues and Challenges: There is still no consensus on the modality to be followed- community led modality or government/authority led modality or private sector- led modality though the consensus was that those three should be the modalities. Another concept of Public Private and Community led modality was also raised. But whatever be the modality it was agreed that things work best with good business practice so we have to incorporate good business practice in it. Legal aspects were also discussed, since the existing two Acts- KVDA 1988 and LSGA 1999 will only be the basic legal documents for this urban regeneration There were concerns as whether these two documents will be sufficient or not? If not what other legal guidelines should be formed? Most importantly issues of Land acquisition and tax exemptions and the need of their inclusion in the legal provision were raised. Social issues such as, the issue of displacement and relocation of the local people, the lengthening of the project period were also raised. There was also huge concern on the need to address the project period critically and whoever leads the project the community should be involved in the decision making process and above all the design of the houses should be culturally sensitive. Regarding the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders although community is the main beneficiary others stakeholders should also be equally benefitted. Community should be involved from beginning to the end, unless the community is prepared the project will not be successful. Community based organizations can work towards facilitation and awareness generation, Private sector is the major stakeholders and can be involved in property valuation, planning, capital investment, implementation and dialogue with community. Authorities (KMC, KVDA, and DUDBC)/Government should play a lead role in preparing appropriate legal guidelines, handling the land acquisition, ownership transfer, tax exemption issues and providing a favourable environment for the smooth operation of the project. In addition government should also take care of the Infrastructure development such as roads, water supply, electricity, telephone lines.

10 8 NSET should be involved in more in depth technical study, earthquake risk reduction works, and facilitate more dialogues between the different stakeholders. What Next More detailed study and analysis needed, communication and other strategies needs to be prepared, identification of other stakeholders and more dialogues between the stakeholders should be initiated, More efforts should be made to gain trust and acceptance from the community Pros and Cons of different modality (Private led, Community led, Government led) needs to be identified Alternatives in the same pilot site or other different pilot sites needs to be identified Legal basis has to be formed, Operational guidelines has to be formed Time bound Planning is needed Utilize experiences from around the world and also from within the country 2.5 Concluding Session Mr. Suresh Prakash Acharya, Joint Secretary Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), in his concluding remarks stressed that the workshop was very relevant with the theme Changing Cities and Building Opportunities of the World Habitat Day The core area is decaying and if they are not restored now then they will lose their importance based on that today s workshop is very important, he said. Mr. Acharya further noted that the strong commitment that came from the Private Sector is very encouraging. He also expressed commitments from the government side mentioning that recently Government of Nepal has prioritized the urban area and the result of which is the formation of Ministry of Urban Development and for the improvement of the urban area this concept of urban regeneration has come up as a very important tool. And the government will take this forward as one of the priority area. Photographs reflecting the glimpses of the workshop are attached in Annex II.

11 9 ANNEXES ANNEX I: PRESENTATIONS

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13 11 ANNEX II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

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22 20 ANNEX III: GLIMPSES OF THE WORKSHOP

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