ICRR 10033
                                                                                            Report Number : ICRR10033
                    ICR Review
                    Operations Evaluation Department




1. Project Data :
             OEDID:
             OEDID :    C1940
         Project ID :   P009491
      Project Name :    Rural Roads and Markets Improvement and Management Project
            Country :   Bangladesh
             Sector :   Rural Roads
       L/C Number :     C1940
  Partners involved :   KfW, SDC
       Prepared by :    Binyam Reja, OEDST
      Reviewed by : Yves Albouy
    Group Manager : Roger H. Slade
       Date Posted : 04/22/1998

2. Project Objectives, Financing, Costs and Components :
Objectives :
 i)      promote rural development through the reconstruction, upgrading, and maintenance of feeder roads, growth
 center markets and the construction of structures on rural roads in the project area;
 ii)     implement cost effective approaches to design, construction and maintenance of these components within
 resource constraints;
 iii)    improve resource mobilization to support zila and upzila maintenance activities;
 iv)     strengthen the institutions concerned with the development and maintenance of feeder and rural roads and
 markets; and
 v)      rehabilitate roads and associated structure damaged by the 1987 floods while improving standards to
 minimize future flood damage.

Components :
 (a)     improving, maintaining, and upgrading 500 km of Type B feeder roads;
 (b)     constructing bridges and culverts on about 650 km of rural roads;
 (c)     master planning and improving infrastructures in 65 growth center markets;
 (d)     providing project support in the form of consultants, project staff, vehicles and equipment, and office and
 laboratory facilities in the project area;
 (e)     constructing a new headquarters building for Local Government Engineering Department;
 (f)     repair about 650 km of flood-damage roads, and 27 km of bridges, culverts, drainage ditches and retaining
 walls in the area west of the Jamuna River .

Costs : Total project cost : Appraisal US$ 98.3 million; Actual US$95 million. Credit amount: US$ 62.3 million, of
which US$ 5.2 million is canceled.


3. Achievement of Relevant Objectives :
The objective to promote rural development was substantially achieved . Physical targets set out in the SAR were
achieved, in some cases, exceeded . The institutional development effort substantially increased the institutional
capacity of the main organization involved in rural development, LGED . Financial objectives, however, were only
partially achieved.

4. Significant Achievements :
Significant achievements were made in : increasing rural mobility, reducing rural transport costs, improving marketing
costs; and creating rural employment for the poor .

5. Significant Shortcomings :
The project came short of developing sustainable flow of resources for Union Parishads to increase their share of
funds needed to maintain infrastructures under their jurisdiction .
6. Ratings :               ICR                    OED Review                Reason for Disagreement /Comments
              Outcome :    Satisfactory           Satisfactory
    Institutional Dev .:   Substantial            Substantial
        Sustainability :   Likely                 Likely
   Bank Performance :      Satisfactory           Satisfactory
      Borrower Perf .:     Satisfactory           Satisfactory
       Quality of ICR :                           Exemplary

7. Lessons of Broad Applicability :
The key lessons from this project are (i) continuous local community participation at all stages of the project is
essential for project success, and (ii) developing a sustainable local source of funding is a challenging undertaking
and rarely achieved in the context of a project; it requires a broader intervention including changes in policy to
increase the revenue base and decision making powers of local governments .

8. Audit Recommended?        Yes     No
         Why? This project has broad lessons for the Bank's effort in rural development and poverty alleviation,
and its audit would make a good building block for a rural development or poverty study .

9. Comments on Quality of ICR :
The ICR is exemplary, and covers all aspects project implementation and achievement of objectives .