Published on The Kathmandu Post on May 11, 2017:
Outburst of interests have become public for the position of
Kathmandu’s mayor with a promise to bring glory into this otherwise chaotic metropolis. After a hiatus of almost two decades,
Kathmandu aims to appoint a sheriff that is accountable to its electoral
public.
The herculean responsibility of resurrecting Kathmandu as a
civilized city cannot be bestowed to the fainthearted. This is not an experiment confined within a
laboratory to observe whether it succeeds on a “trial and error” basis. There
is too much at stake here for the voters to blindly toe the political ideology at
the voting booth. Some poignant and
difficult questions need to be put forth to seek the candidates’ position on
how they intend to address issues that have long overwhelmed the city.
It isn’t enough for the candidates to project themselves as
fitting for the role of mayor because they belong to a younger generation that
offers “different and fresh” air. A brief reflection on what the young
political leaders have achieved vis-à-vis their senior contemporaries is enough
to deduce that “new” generation does
not imply “smarter” generation. It is also inadequate for candidates to
announce their candidacy buoyed by their political network, past experience or a
relevant academic qualification.
What Kathmandu needs is a leader that possesses the wherewithal
to challenge the status-quo. The city gasps for a personality that not only has
a high-level vision, but specific plans on transforming the vision into reality. Someone that does not succumb to the
political pressure and operates independently at an arm’s length from
Singhadurbar.
None of the candidates have unveiled their specific plans on
how they intend on making Kathmandu the next Colombo, forget Singapore. Under this backdrop, casting a vote will be
akin to walking into an exam without an iota of preparations, while leaving the
results to the grace of the Pashupatinath.
Below transpires a list of questions, which, if answered by
candidates, would prepare the voters execute an appropriate verdict at the
voting booth.
·
After
20 years of unaccountability, how do you plan to catch up with peer cities in
the region?
· You
have witnessed functioning traffic lights on your visits abroad. How will you spearhead installation of such
lights in Kathmandu?
· Will
you campaign for subsidized air masks for Dustmandu’s residents to combat
lethal air pollution or do you have a more tangible intervention planned?
· Do
you believe that animal rights extend to stray dogs and cattle freely roaming
the streets? If not, what is your plan
to eradicate such menace?
· Will
you continue the legacy of publicity stunts as a regulatory instrument against
misdemeanors such as public disposal of trash, not wearing seatbelts, carrying
passengers on the roof of public transport, honking horns, only to see them fizzle
at the end? Do you have a more effective
measure against such misdemeanors?
· Do
you believe that shops setup on footpaths provide income opportunities to the
shop owners and convenience to the consumers and therefore should be
continued? If not, how do you intend on
returning footpaths to the pedestrians?
· To
demonstrate how poor Kathmandu’s roads are, a foreign diplomat once suggested
advising pregnant women that they avoid the roads for the risk of
miscarriage. A mayoral aspirant cannot
dismiss the road despair today solely on the Melamchi project. The voting public deserves to understand whether
Kathmandu’s roads will ever enhance mobility rather than continue to restrict
it.
· The
snowballing number of vehicles compound traffic gridlock across the city. Kathmandu witnesses traffic congestions
throughout the day, whereas even 2-3 years ago, such congestions were limited
to peak hours only. It is no secret that
the Government policy encourages vehicle import as the tax revenues provide a mainstay
to Government finance. The generosity of
kickbacks from auto dealers also ensures that their business continues to thrive. Cities such as Stockholm, Singapore and
London have implemented congestion fees to discourage driving during peak
hours. What does the mayor suggest is the
solution for Kathmandu?
· Studies
have been conducted on the feasibility of a mass transport such as metro, monorail
and urban rail, as a meaningful substitute to private vehicles and an effective
alternate to the dysfunctional public transport; however, such studies have remained
only on paper. The public transport
system run by transport mafias, contravene all regulations by paying off the
police. How does the mayor plan to penetrate
this nexus?
· It
is demoralizing to read about new construction springing up, dishonoring the building
codes introduced after the 2015 earthquakes.
Such blatant violation to safety protocols, while the wounds from the
disaster remain unforgotten, let alone healed.
What is the mayor’s plan to reprimand such violation?
·
Kathmandu
has a sports stadium that is in a state of despair. Similar to everything else that seems to have
fallen apart, the stadium desperately pleads for a responsible caretaker. It is regrettable that the city is unable to
host international sporting events as the level of infrastructure provided by
Dashrath stadium is inadequate. Nepal
has been a laughing stock in the international arena for exemplifying the
worst, and sports is no different. Does
the mayor propose any remedy?
· Finally,
Kathmandu’s airport continues to grab headlines in international media for
being ranked as one of the worst in the world. The main gateway airport is
often seen as emblematic of a city in which it is located. At the moment, TIA
as a gateway resembles a poor picture of the state of the city. Its poor infrastructure is no longer able to
cater to growth in air-traffic and deliver quality service. News of monkeys spotted inside terminals and animals
on runways are common sources of public ridicule. How does the mayor unravel this disorder?
The convenient answer is that most issues fall outside of the
city’s municipal jurisdiction and without support from other Government
agencies, they cannot be solved. The
candidates need to rise above the situation and introspect whether they will
opt for convenient excuses. Subsequently,
the perennial question resurfaces: who wants to be Kathmandu’s mayor?
