While real estate developers had pinned much hope on the government's plan to provide apartments and group housing projects to high-ranking officials and judges to boost the stagnant realty sector, the publicised list of applicants is already generating controversy.

According to Building Construction Maintenance Division Office (BCMDO) records, 10 developers have submitted the forms for their respective projects as of the deadline on Wednesday, February 6. However, the list does not include the name of Westar Property Pvt Ltd, which claims to have submitted the application form on February 4.

Umang Rana, CEO of Westar Property Pvt Ltd, says they formally registered their Westar Residency of Balkumari and were given the registration number 1296 for the process. “We are at a total loss as to how our name is not in the list when we submitted our proposal before the set deadline,” says Rana, adding he will go to BCMDO on Sunday to demand some clarification.

Meanwhile, downplaying the incident, Suroj Raj Rajkarnikar, division chief and superintendent engineer at BCMDO, says, “Since this is just the preliminary phase of the action plan, where we are simply trying to gather information about the existing projects in the market that would meet the set criteria, it won’t make much difference in the biding later on.” He further assured that he will look into the case on Sunday and sort out any discrepancies if they have occurred.

Rana is hopeful that the confusion will be sorted out at the earliest. “I am guessing this is just a technical error and the concerned authorities will rectify their mistake soon,” he says.

With the introduction of the action plan, real estate developers had cheered the government’s step and hoped that it would help regain the lost confidence and provide some re
lief to the sector. This is the first time that the government has considered private sector’s housing projects and apartments for high rank officials.

Rajkarnikar says the response to the notice published for private developers to apply for the action plan has been encouraging, even though only a small number of developers have submitted their proposals.

Rajkarnikar opines that projects not being compatible with the set criteria may be the cause for many developers not bidding their products.

“The government coordinated with Nepal Land and Housing Developers’ Association (NLHDA) before settling on the minimum requirement of the projects by keeping the comfort of officials in mind,” he articulates.

Rajkarnikar says the applications will help them understand the genuine scenario of available pro
jects, costs, locations, and gather feedback from developers. Stating that the government is yet to decide how many units to purchase, he says, “We have forwarded the documents to the ministry. As soon as the units and target group is determined, the budget allocation and procurement process will be initiated according to the Procurement Act.” Bijay Rajbhandary, chairman of CE Construction, says that they did not apply for the projects.

“The government introduced rescue measures for the sinking real estate, which is appreciable. But as we are doing pretty well, we have not bothered to compete,” he says, adding, “Also, neither do we have projects that meet with government’s set criteria, nor stocks at present.” Om Rajbhandary, third vicepresident of NLHDA, says that the
government’s decision to purchase group housings for judges and apartments for high-rank officials is encouraging for the whole realty sector. He further says, “Clients are especially wary of buying apartments owing to debate related to ownership certificate and building safety issues.

But if the government itself buys them and sets the trend, it will surely help boost the image of apartments in the market.” According to Rajbhandary, the existing projects can easily meet the set criteria and believes that the government will soon start the process for procurement.

Despite the government’s list not including the name of Westar Property Pvt Ltd, Rana is still optimistic that if everything goes well with this action plan, another action plan of providing soft home loans to civil servants will follow that will expand the scope for realty. He says that much will depend on how long the government takes to decide and iron out any issues such as theirs.

According to BCMDO, the action plan will be completed within two years. The work plan has been formulated within Nepal government’s Immediate Action Plan for Governance and Economic Reform 2012, which has incorporated ‘management of residences for high rank officials and judges’ in Kathmandu valley.

source: The Himalayan Times,9 Feb 2013