How billions of dollars are being misspent in earthquake-ravaged Nepal, building new homes instead of restoring old ones
The government says it is on target to complete reconstruction by 2020, but faces an estimated US$1 billion shortfall for rebuilding homes
Billions of dollars poured into Nepal after a powerful earthquake devastated the country three years ago is being misdirected towards building unnecessary new homes where old ones could have been salvaged, experts warn.
Survivors of the 7.8-magnitude quake that killed nearly 9,000 people in April 2015 are being pushed to construct new buildings they do not need, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the government’s US$9 billion reconstruction effort.
“It is proposing the wrong solution for a lot of people,” said Noll Tufani, Nepal country director for Build Change, a charity specialising in disaster-proofing.
Building quake-proof homes was a condition of the US$4.1 billion pledged to Nepal by international donors under the tagline “build back better”.
The government identified 708,000 families whose homes had been damaged and set up a US$3,000 cash subsidy programme to encourage them to construct homes that would withstand future seismic shocks.