December 4: Japan handed over five bridges which were recently constructed along the Barhakilo-Barpak road in Gorkha, the epicenter of the devastating earthquake of 2015, to the government of Nepal on Monday, December 3.

The two governments had signed an agreement in Decemebr 2015 for Japanese grant assistance to be provided for major infrastructure reconstruction and rehabilitation including the three bridges in Gorkha.

According to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the subproject of bridge construction along Barhakilo-Barpak Road is one of the three sub-projects under the umbrella grant agreement  entitled Program for Rehabilitation and Recovery from Nepal Earthquake.

JICA said in a statement that the subproject amounting to 930 million Japanese yen was initiated to support the speedy reconstruction and recovery in the earthquake affected areas by ensuring all-season reliable access to the northern parts of Gorkha district.

“The construction of the three PC (pre-stressed concrete) bridges by the grant subproject – Daraudi Khola Bridge, Ghatte Khola Bridge, and Rangrung Khola Bridge – was completed in July 2018. In addition, two RC (reinforced concrete) bridges – Khahare Khola Bridge and Jhyalla Khola Bridge – were also constructed by another JICA technical cooperation project, the Project on Rehabilitation and Recovery from Nepal Earthquake,” reads the statement.

During the handover ceremony, Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Masamichi Saigo, expressed his hope that the five newly constructed bridges will enable the people to access other communities, major markets and cities conveniently and safely throughout the year, and this would contribute to enhance the accessibility to public services, and to improve the economic activities in the northern parts of Gorkha.

Newly appointed chief representative of JICA Nepal Office, Yumiko Asakuma, reiterated JICA’s commitment to continuing its support to the post-earthquake recovery in Nepal based on the Build Back Better (BBB) concept.