SKorea donates earth-moving equipment

KATHMANDU, July 29: The South Korean government has donated 27 heavy equipment to the Nepal government on Wednesday, which can be used for clearing debris and for relief and rescue during disasters like earthquake.

On behalf of the South Korean government, South Korean ambassador to Nepal Young-Jin Choe handed over the equipment to secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Surya Silwal amid a function on Wednesday.Secretary Silwal said that the equipment will be handed over to Nepal Police and Nepal Army. He said that the Korean government provided the equipment considering the shortage of heavy equipment faced by the government of Nepal during the earthquakes.

He said the Korean government provided 12 loaders, 3 excavators and 12 bulldozers to the home ministry.

After the devastating April 25 earthquake, the government could not demolish damaged buildings of over three storeys in the lack of equipment. The government had even sought equipment from various countries. And lately, it was struggling to manage debris in various places in the capital and other earthquake-affected districts in lack of equipments.

The government declared three Kathmandu districts as "crisis zone" in June. The main objective behind declaring the districts as crisis zone was to facilitate speedy demolition of badly-damaged structures and clear the debris. The Central Disaster Relief Committee under the home ministry, the authority responsible, is struggling in securing the equipment and expediting the task of demolition.

"Now, we will use the equipment to collect and dispose of the debris," said Silwal.

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