Development on Past Articles

In this column, we report on significant developments and new ideas relating to articles which appeared in past issues..THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT (July 1988)The Resources Utilisation and Conservation Project (RCUP), which came under heavy fire in our article as a wrongly planned and poorly executed project, has finally been wound up, after having spent an estimated U$ 32.5 million of USAID money over five years. According to our reporter, almost all of the wire reinforced "gaban walls" put in place by the project along the Kali Gandaki Valley have been washed away. Most of the suspension bridges are also similarly gone. An evaluation report attributed these to "natural calamity". The beautiful bungalows built by RCUP up and down the Kali Gandaki have been handed over to HMG, which is having a difficult time deciding what to do with them, and how to maintain them. In the meantime, our reporter observed wild mushrooms growing around the buildings, for whose roof beams the tallest pines in the area were felled by RCUP´s consultants..ICIMOD GETS NEW CHIEF (Nov/Dec 1988)Francesco di Castri, for reasons described as "personal", did not, as reported, take over as Director of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. It is now rumoured that ICIMOD´s Board has tapped E.F. Tacke to take over from Colin Rosser, who has led ICIMOD since its founding in 1984. Tacke, a West German, is presently chief of the Asian Development Bank´s section for West Asian agriculture..SUPER POTATO! (Nov/Dec 1988)According to Nepal´s National Potato Development Programme, the nation´s potato productivity has improved dramatically, from 52,000 metric tons per hectare in 1978 to 82,000 m. tons presently. Total production last year came to about 566,000 m. tons. Meanwhile, there is a seed potato glut in Himachal Pradesh, which is the premier supplier of seed potatos for North India. In January, more than 6000 m, tons of seed potatos, valued at IRs 2 crores, were stranded and rotting in various transhipment points in Himachal. With no storage space, potato sacks were piled high on both sides of the highway for kilometres on end at Shimla, Manali and Gujarat, reports Himachal Times. The glut has been blamed on poor marketing, competition from seed growers in Punjab and Haryana, and a lax certification procedure which has undermined buyer confidence. The recent announcement that the multinational Pepsi Cola company is moving into Punjab to grow vegetables — including potatos — is regarded as more bad news for Himachal´s embattled potato farmers..OZONE HOLE OVER HIMALAYA? (July 1988)The Asia-Pacific People´s Environment Network (APPEN), based in Penang, Malaysia, has initiated a campaign to highlight the problems that would arise due to the depletion of atmospheric ozone. Because of severe health and ecological implications of continuing depletion of the ozone layer, APPEN asks interested groups and individuals in Asia to send appeals and memoranda to the relevant government agencies in their countries. The communications should urge the government to join or abide by the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocols of S987, which call for international action to protect the ozone layer. According to a list provided by APPEN, Maldives is the only country in South Asia that has joined the Convention. APPEN says countries of the Asia-Pacific should establish a programme to phase out the use of cholorofluorocarbons (CFCs, which are the main culprits for ozone depletion) within ten years.