| Case Stories |
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Mobilizing the private sector for the establishment of a Vegetable and Fruit Retail Centre in Pokhara
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Relocation of vegetable and fruit retailers to a new site |
Pokhara with a population of about 160,000 and around 350 tourist hotels catering to 143,000 tourists arrivals in 2000 is a major consumer market for fresh vegetables and fruits that are produced in and around Pokhara city. Ironically, the city doesn't have any organized fruits and vegetable retail outlets for the sale of these commodities. Such commodities are sold mostly by small informal sector enterprises that generally encroach upon the pavements of the main street which gives rise to the problems of environmental degradation and traffic jams. The retailers do not even have access to simple, rudimentary sheds to protect the produce from the rain and sun. Besides, since specific retail spaces are not allotted, producers as well as consumers face difficulties in selling and buying the fruits and vegetables.
Things seem to be turning for the better, however. Recently, an individual entrepreneur and the municipality have join hands to engage in a joint initiative aimed at providing a vegetable and fruit retail complex at Chipledhunga in Pokhara - marking the initiation of the first major Public Private Partnership initiative in Pokhara. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the municipality and the entrepreneur to build and operate a retail complex for the sale of vegetable and fruits, where the municipality will be providing logistical and operational support while the entrepreneur will be making necessary investments. The proposed complex has a capacity of sixty retail outlets with continuous supply of water and electricity including a provision for a facility for cleaning of vegetable and fruits. It will also have communication facility along with toilet and storage. It will have organized solid waste management system built in. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs. 2.5 million excluding the cost of land. The entrepreneur is very much motivated to run the complex as a PPP initiative. A users group including vegetable and fruit sellers is being formed to help operate the market.
The retailers also have come to realize the advantages of being organized and the growth prospects offered by 'one-stop' market outlet for fruits and vegetables. More than sixty of them have already moved temporarily to the place provided by the entrepreneur adjacent to the proposed site of the complex. The construction of the complex is expected to be completed by April 2001, after which all the retailers will be shifted to the new complex.
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