Kathmandu, July 16
Construction entrepreneurs in Nepal have claimed that they lost Rs 65 billion due to the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown imposed to control it.
An assessment made by the Federation of Contractors’ Associations of Nepal concludes the contractors lost their income in site management, staff salary, and rent. Likewise, the machinery used in the construction sector also resulted in a big loss, according to the federation’s chairperson Ravi Singh.
Though the lockdown restrictions have been eased, resuming construction works as normal would take some more months, Singh claims, adding only around 10 per cent of the construction works are ongoing currently. “Only the works that can be done indoors are ongoing. Most of the workers are at home currently.”
Besides the Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdown, monsoon rains have also delayed work, according to him.
The sector employs around 1.5 million workers, a third of which are Indians.
