斗付 The Journe Y At the turn of the 21 sl century, Sri Lanka continued to be gripped by a civil conflict that had tu violent several decades earlier and impeded growth in all sectors of the economy. The Road SE Assistance Project (RSAP) was a decade-long journey that began in 2005, when a ceasefire w effect, to revitalize the country's soclo-economic development, The directions taken and destinations reached by RSAP were path breaking. The achievements were particularly remark since the project had to contend with a failed ceasefire and renewed hostility for several years implementation. The focus of RSAP was the national road network, which carried 70% of the country's traffic. It here that the most immediate and pressing needs had to be addressed to enable better connec between the regions, provide better access to markets and services, and drive towards po, reduction, The project aimed to lower transportation costs through the sustainable delivery c efficient national road system that serves the needs of road users and the Sri Lankan public at Ic It also sought to close the gap between the government's planned reforms and the institut capacity on the ground to implement them, RSAP prioritized the rehabilitation of roads in ( provinces - a process that increased, in parallel, the capacity of the Road Development Autl (RDA). Equally importantly, the project enabled private sector participation and accelerated development of the local construction industry, In addition to the national highways, RSAP rehabilitated rural roads in nine local government areas as oriented one. The RDA has begun undertaking road safety audits, user satisfaction surveys and a pilot initiative, building capacity within local authorities and establishing a framework for developing technical audits. The organization has also developed its design units and improved supervision institutional capabilities for road infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance within a decentralized capacity. governance system. Moreover, RSAP has been supporting the RDA to establish a fully-fledged asset management system Another related achievement was the creation of a comprehensive rural roads database for the entire to inventorize, prioritize, monitor and manage its network with a view to increasing the organization's country that would support more rational planning and prioritizing in the development of rural roads, value. The implementation of this system will ensure that the funds already invested in the accelerated which represents nearly 75% of the country's total road network. road rehabilitation program will be managed wisely and provide the road users with a level of service that they would demand. RSAP was instrumental in reinforcing the concept of environmental and social safeguards - to minimize negative impacts on the environment and on people - in road sector projects. The RDA and the construction companies improved their proficiency to implement safeguards and manage safeguard issues while putting in place the systems and procedures that were needed to institutionalize these practices. "I think this was the beginning of a revolution in the road sector It was with RSAP that Among the many innovations introduced by RSAP was the piloting of the concept of benefit road designs began to adopt a futuristic outlook. Earlier we were simply managing the monitoring - to examine the process of road construction and rehabilitation from the perspective of needs of the sector as we went along in the best way we could. Things changed with road users and other stakeholders, It enables those whom the road is meant to benefit, to influence the RSAR It was somewhat of a learning process. It was flexible to meet the needs that its design and implementation. RSAP also adopted the grievance redress mechanism, recently were identified. This experience is guiding the next generation of road development introduced for road development projects in Sri Lanka, which involved community leaders, local projects as well." authorities and the RDA. S. AmarasekerE Secretary to the Prime Minister (2010 - January 2015) The demonstration of good practice has been a key element throughout RSAP's decade-long and Secretary to the Ministry of Highways (2005 - 2010) journey. A road safety corridor, incorporating both vehicle- and pedestrian-friendly features, designed and constructed with wide stakeholder consultation in close collaboration with the University of Moratuwa, has proved its potential for wider replication. The achievements of RSAP have gone beyond infrastructure development. It has catalyzed reform in the sector, facilitating the transition of the RDA from an infrastructure oriented organisation to a service P Ground S'tuation I k, a It is difficult to imagine a dynamic economy without a good road network The road network is one of the most important features of a country's infrastructure and one of its most valuable assets Economic growth, land use patterns, housing, and social interactions depend on - and are inseparable from - a country's roads Roads connect people to work, education, services - and other people It enables the supply of goods, the operation of trade, and the generation of knowledge. Improving roads is therefore key to reducing poverty and creating a more equitable society, In contrast, the lack of good roads results in marginalization and backwardness - both economic and social When the World Bank studied Sri Lanka's road sector in 2004, the country had seen an average road Road sector maintenance costs traffic growth rate of 6% for four years. This was despite the fact that a situation of conflict and violence had prevailed in many parts of the country for over two decades. However, the road network Sri Lanka has a land area of 65,610 km2 and the highest road density in South Asia. In 2004, the was in a state of disrepair and deterioration, due to inadequate maintenance at all levels - national, country had a road network of 92,700 km, comprising 11,600 km of national highways, 16,500 km provincial and rural. The Government was gravely concerned: when road conditions decline, of provincial roads, and 64,600 km of rural roads. However, road maintenance has been chronically transport costs increase. under-funded across the different types of roads. Not only were more than half the national roads in poor condition, many of them were also seriously The total funding requirement for periodic and routine maintenance of roads from 2007 to 2013 was congested. Road congestion compelled the government to increase road capacity, which requires approximately Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 81 billion, but only LKR 38 billion was made available during land acquisition, a costly and long drawn out process that has resulted in neglecting the maintenance the period. Furthermore, the budgetary allocation for maintenance of the national network was also of all classes of roads. According to Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) estimates at the time, less than used to meet rehabilitation demands, depriving the national network of regular maintenance'. half of the rural road network provided all-weather access. It was a situation that was not easy to turn around because the responsibility for rural roads had been decentralized to local government Development partners grew concerned that if a proper mechanism was not set up for maintenance, authorities without strengthening their technical and financial capacities. the sustainability of their support would be undermined. This situation was compounded by inadequate institutional capacity in the road sector. Sri Lanka needed considerable investment to address the road rehabilitation backlog, and to bring its road system to a level of performance and reliability consistent with the country's development objectives. Road sector institutions The Ministry of Highways2 is responsible for policies and programs related to the national road network, and the Road Development Authority (RDA), a statutory institution under the Ministry, has the task of planning and maintaining the national highway network, and planning, designing and building new roads, bridges and expressways to augment the existing network. Provincial Councils are responsible for provincial roads and the local authorities (including municipal councils, urban councils and pradeshiya sabhas) for rural roads. 'National Road Sector Master Plan 2007 - 2017 2THrough the years, the highways sector has been variously inked with other sectors in the formation of its Ministry. In the 2002 Cabinet it was the Ministry ofTransport, Highways & Civil Aviation; n 2004 the Ministry of Highways and Road Development in 2010 the Ministry of Highways, Ports and Shipping directly under the President; and in 2015 the Mins ry of Highways, Higher Edcaton and GOSL., Road Sector Note. May 2005 Investment Promotion "When the World Bank re-entered the road sector in 2004, after an absence of almost a decade, the dialogue was based on the Government having a sustainable Road sector strategies arrangement for the maintenance of the road network as well as the closure of the RCDC that will enable the development of a private contracting industry. The Bank The Government of Sri Lanka was convinced that changes needed to be introduced to the road came in to a sector that had a road network that required immediate rehabilitation as it sector to turn the situation around. A medium-term sector reform framework was formulated by GOSL had suffered from a backlog in maintenance due to years of conflict. Due to the large in 2003 as part of the ADB's Road Sector Development Project. This framework provides guidance drain in resources at the time to develop the expressway network, less funds were on how reform in the sector would proceed and serves as a road map for future lending to the sector. channeled for the rehabilitation of the road network that was in critical need. All levels of the network, national, provincial and rural, required assistance. Our quick The disbanding of the state-owned Road Construction Development Company (RCDC) in the same assessment indicated that the national network, the arteries providing connectivity year was a clear indication that the Government was serious about revitalizing the road sector by within the country to provincial and rural roads, needed to be prioritized. But we could enabling the participation of the private construction industry. The RDAs reliance on the RCDC for not neglect the rural roads as people were having difficulties accessing services and most road works funded by the Government had inhibited the growth of the domestic road markets. We decided to include a pilot component for the rural areas, which would, in construction capacity. addition to the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads, map out a rural roads development strategy and improve capacities to achieve it." Amali Rajapaksa Sr Infrastructure Specialist, WB Groundvvork In 2004, GOSL sought the World Bank's re-engagement in the country's road sector after a lapse of over a decade. The Government's development strategy, which highlighted the urgent need to develop its roads and increase interaction between provinces, coincided with the Bank's assistance strategy that supported investment in roads as an essential infrastructure development area for pro-poor growth linked to shared prosperity Moreover, both strategies emphasized the importance of developing private industry for road construction and maintenance, Thus, the World Bank's renewed partnership with GOSL was based on shared objectives and the benefit of the experience of previous collaborations. In November 2004, the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to coordinate their activities in the road sector within the context of the reform framework, The World Bank took the leadership in addressing the issue of sustainable road maintenance financing, JICA took forward the subject of private sector development in the road construction industry and the ADB continued to take the lead in institutional building and capacity building at the RDA, "WeIn 2005, the Bank approved a US$ 100 million, International Development Association (IDA) credit complementing our operations. Historicaly too, we've had a good partnership. n RSAP to finance the rehabilitation and upgrading of the countrWes national highways and sur have good coordination at the field level as we//. The ADB and the World Bank consult GOSLs reform initiatives for financing sustainable road maintenance, Additional funding of US$ each other regularly, and this also helps us avoid duplication of work. If development constructionpmaterials,and0a further in$r100emllionnwasuprovidedotoradresscthesrehabilitatio partners don't coordinate well it can affect the industry and the sector" needs of national roads in urban areas, A special feature of this project was that, for the first timn Aruna Nanayakkara Sri Lanka, the total funding for a road sector project of this magnitude was being met by the W Transport Specialist Bank - easing the burden on the Treasury, RSAP was the largest single investment by the World B Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Sri Lanka at the time. R think coordination between JICAf ADB and the World Bank is important not only to avoid duplicating work but also to ensure that we don't conflict with each otherre Road Sector Assistance Project: mapping new directions because if that happens, the borrower suffers. It's a good thing that JICA, ADB and the World Bank have almost identical safeguard polcies, and in the procurement RSAP's long-term objective was to lower transport costs through the formation of an efficient nation guidelines, there are some differences but the principles are almost the samen So the road system. The project design also recognized that if the rehabilitation of roads did not see a p in borrower has the advantago. development in road maintenance systems and capacities, the benefits of road improvements Would be short-lived. Unity is also needed in order to encourage the borrower to improve poicy standards like social and environmental safeguards. Sometimes people may consider safeguards Thus, RSAP outlined some key activities to help reach the destinations of its journey: as cost without return, but it is not so." (i) establishing a Road Asset Management System capable of planning and managing RDAs Namal Ralapanawe network; (i) strengthening the capacity of RDA and the local authorities in the pilot project area Senior Project Specialist RSAPvs reabilitate wanto oads t hrough tr corats; an iienthning Japan International Cooperation Agency (JIoA) erdstem he oe deintals rogi that ite re to ofras did not seeap le RDA's capacity to contract out, manage and monitor maintenance works. 12sh rtli3d RSAP was therefore designed to include three components: National roads Rehabilitation and maintenance of national roads RSAP's national roads component covered maintenance, rehabilitation and minor upgrading in eight " Resurfacing and maintaining 800 km of Class A and B roads provinces' Thirty-six road sections were first identified by the University of Moratuwa, through a screening process based on traffic volume, restricted carriageway width, pavement conditions, * Technical assistance for the selection, design and construction supervision of the civil works economic activity in the "influence area" of the road, the volume of commercial traffic and connectivity. * Training and institutional strengthening Twelve road sections were then prioritized based on the national road strategy and economic viability. Rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads - pilot project Rural roads * Developing a strategy for the management of rural roads RSAP's rural roads component was a pilot project with the main objective of increasing the efficiency * Rehabilitating 160 km of rural roads in nine local Government areas, whose selection was based of road maintenance in rural areas that would, in turn, help alleviate rural poverty and improve the living on the recently completed poverty map of Sri Lanka standards of rural communities. Although poverty levels in the provinces selected vary consideraby, " Training and capacity building the primary beneficiaries were amongst the poorest in the country. The project aimed to increase the percentage of families living within "0" km of "All Weather Roads", which stood at below 50%. The Moneragala and Badulla districts had the highest poverty level at 32%, while the poverty level in he Institutional strengthening and policy support Hambanatota and Matara districts were 27% and 24%, respectively. The project was implemented in * Technical support for institutional changes and the adoption of more efficient mechanisms and nine local authorities in the Southern, Uva and North Central Provinces. systems for improved maintenance financing However the Northern Province could not be included as it was not accessible for a project of this nature due to the conflict. 4I . ...8... . . ... .. RSAP got off the ground in a climate of change and innovation in Sri Lanka's road sector, The project was expected to help maintain the momentum of the road sector reforms that were being introduced. Key to achieving RSAP's targets - arriving at the journey's destinations - would be improved capacity within the RDA, the agency responsible for steering the project. This was a process that began from the preparatory stages, reaching several significant milestones as the project progressed. "We conducted training sessions for Government officials in the sector on how to select consultants following Bank procedures. Even the Secretary of Highways participated. They were able to clarify doubts, as they were not very familiar with consultancy selection. They had confidence in our procedures and that helped get the "The RDA was essentially a civil engineering organisation. The ADB helped establish evaluations done faster. We also carried out some training for the contractors, to the Environment and Social Development Division at the RDA and the World Bank is introduce the RSAP perspective. We did experience some challenges but managed to continuing to help our staff develop in this area. In fact, they are helping our staff find ways to ensure that the process went smoothly With the RSAP we collaborated improve capacity in all areas: planning, project formulation, construction design, well to ensure that the contracts were awarded in a timely manner The Bank's role was construction supervision, maintenance - the whole range of expertise and tasks." appreciated and commended by the senior government officials." H. M. K. G. G. Bandara Deepal Fernando Director - Planning, RDA Senior Procurement Specialist, WB 2007 - February 2015 January 1998 - December 2002 The fast track At the beginning of the project, a pressing chalenge was to complete the procurements for the RSAP The Bank was also responsive to the Government's request to use the standard bidding document road packages within a strict timeline. The mobilization of consultants, the invitation of bids, and the of the Institute of Construction Training and Development (ICTAD), as the contractors were familiar with evaluation of bids had to be done in quick succession. it. This enhanced the understanding of the contract that helped move the procurement process. "The whole process was more complicated than it looked. the appointment of Tender Boards by the Government, the evaluation of bids, tender board approval, World Bank concurrence, and Cabinet approval. This was followed by the contract awarding process. The process had to be repeated twelve times with the same intensity This was no easy task, with the Ministry and the World Bank chasing the achievement of timelines. The task was truly tough! But it was equally well supported by the Bank team and the Ministry. We were known as the most efficient project in the Ministry at the time - the flagship project." Gajaba Gunawaradena Project Director, PSAP RDA September 2004 - March 201 20u2 "When it comes to donor-funded projects the criticism we get is that the start-up time is very long. Our previous experience had been that we started design work only after we got the first loan installment and that is a considerable waste of time. But in this particular project we got an advance payment from the intended loan to begin the design work. Later it was absorbed into the main loan. This saved a lot of time. With RSAP we were able to design various sub-projects as we went along. It was a smooth process. S. Amarasekera Secretary to the Prime Minister (2010 - 2015) and Secretary to the Ministry of Highways (2005 - 2010) Break ng Ground One of the most significant achievements of RSAP is that it has enabled the road sector in Sri Lanka to develop its all-round capacity for progress and sustainability. The World Bank's close collaboration with the RDA generated innovative and practical solutions to addressing a range of challenges. Crucially, most of these approaches, based on clearly defined principles, are being incorporated and institutionalized to enable the long-term development of the sector, Setting up a fund for road maintenance A vital initiative supported by RSAP was the Road Maintenance Trust Fund (RMTF), set up to ensure the sustainable and transparent allocation of resources and funds as well as to carry out efficient monitoring of maintenance, It was initially intended that the RMTF would have an independent source of financing through a fuel levy. This levy is collected by the Government and the RMTF is provided a budgetary allocation for financing maintenance. The financing of maintenance works by the World Bank subsequently was intended to help the RDA to build capacity to optimize the selection of roads for maintenance and align its processes towards minimizing costs. The operation of the RMTF is overseen by a Board of Trustees with the assistance of a Technical Advisory Committee. 24 2 Developing local construction capacity Due to the relatively small number of contracts previously offered to the private sector, the local construction industry had limited opportunities to develop.This lack of experience in turn resulted in most companies being unqualified to meet the World Bank's requirements for bidding. As a solution to this impasse, RSAP encouraged a joint venture arrangements that enabled companies to join forces and combine capacitiesThis would become one of the momentous strategies to be adoptedby the project. "RSAP's approach was a more comprehensive development of the highways sector Initially, the RDA was apprehensive about the formation of joint ventures by contractors, as this was than the traditionally isolated road development and maintenance. The state policy something entirely new for the sector. Instead, the authority preferred to lower the qualification criteria. articulated through the Ministry was to encourage, support and develop the local The Bank's task team however, convinced the RDA to allow joint venture bidding. construction sector, especially in the highway construction industry. RSAP was the main vehicle for this and enabled local contractors to effectively compete with foreign counterparts by introducing small sized road packages and encouraging local joint venture partnerships. The project, with the concurrence of the World Bank, also adopted special and concessionary procurement policies to accommodate local contractors." "Most of the local contractors grasped the opportunity. If they were not getting qualified singly they formed joint ventures. When you can't handle a job alone, then you partner Gajaba Gunawaradena with another company or more companies, to enhance your qualifications and do the Project Director RSAP RDA job jointly. In a joint venture both or al parties are jointly and severally responsible for the September2004 - March 201 implementation of the contract. If one party withdraws, the other party has to complete the job." Deepal Fernando Senior Procurement Specialist, WB January 1998 - December 2002 26 2 A strategy adopted to support the local construction industry was the division of the Kantale - In the area of technology too, RSAP made some clear advances. It was with this project that road Trincomalee highway into four equal segments to enable smaller companies to bid for the contracts. construction in Sri Lanka was updated from the use of macadam and double bituminous surface Local contractors recognize RSAP as the project that was key to the development of the local treatment (DBST) to asphalt, which provides smoother surfaces as well as the ability to better construction industry. withstand wear and tear, Although the initial investment was higher, the considerable savings on maintenance costs meant that the switch to asphalt, based on sound economic analysis, proved beneficial. Thus, the introduction of asphalt for the national roads resulted not only in improved quality but also in long-term financial benefits, This required contractors to purchase asphalt plants, which RSAP facilitated with an advance payment. By December 2014, the Central Environmental Authority had granted 140 Environmental Protection Licences for asphalt plants, of which the RDA owns and operates ten, "Our biggest hurdle was that we had to compete with international contractors. We were also at a disadvantage because international contractors could not be "investigated" in a way that was possible with local contractors before contracts were The World Bank's environmental and social safeguard policies are meant to prevent and miti awarded. However, the World Bank was very supportive of us - local contractors harm to people and the environment in the development process. They provide guidelines for a r received a domestic preference of 7.5% so that we could compete with international responsible and accountable way of planning and implementing projects. The project recognized contactors. Our first World Bank funded contract began in 2005 - the 43 km Kalutara - Ambalangoda road. Initially we were anxious about investing in the road sector We enirnen and soal rs brought up this concern with the World Bank and they assured us that the road sector would continue to grow" Piyadasa Madarasinghe, Environmental safeguards Chief Executive Director MAGA Engineerng Pvt Ltd. In the initial months of project implementation, complying with the World Bank's environme safeguards did not appear to be a priority: even highly regarded contractors were found opertig quarries without licences. The RDA as well as the contractors seemed to be indifferent tohe importance of applying safeguards, 28 29 "The World Bank is concerned about the location of quarry sites and burrow pits and rehabilitating them after civil works. For example, there is a loophole in the Forest Ordinance that enables contractors to burrow soil from reserved forests with the written consent of the Conservator of Forests. We informed the Forest Department and the RDA that this cannot be done, that it was against our policies. I think RSAP could be taken as a model for addressing environmental issues. I believe the learning from this could be taken up by the Government for other projects." Sumith Pilapitiya Lead Environment Speciaist, W 30 31 Government regulations stipulate an Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction of new A road-specific Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was developed for each segment of road roads, but this does not apply for the rehabilitation of roads, which does not generally call for land rehabilitation. In addition to requirements specific to the site, there are standard environment acquisitions. However, the WB requires that its environmental safeguard policies be put in place to management requirements that need to be followed. For example: How is the site managed when ensure long-term sustainability rather than short-term solutions, even when Government regulations doing earthworks? Is it kept enclosed to manage dust? Is the drainage system protected from soil don't call for them. It was important then, for the RDA staff to better understand the principles and erosion? The EMP identifies issues based on various activities that will happen within the contract - application of environmental safeguards from the start of the project, and comes up with mitigation measures. The contractor can decide which final solution he wants to employ and bid for the cost of the work involved. "Within the project we made provision to train all the engineers on environmental "RSAP's environmental and social safeguards monitoring work was far stricter than the safeguards. It was a long, one-year process done in modules, in collaboration with the road projects funded by other donors. There is no argument about that. This has been University of Peradenilya. It helped people understand how things have been done our experience. They hold us accountable. One thing that's rather special with World elsewhere and the experiences that exist in relation to putting environmental Bank projects is that all the stakeholders - it could be the Divisional Secretariat, the safeguards in place. The Southern Transport Development Project - the construction local authority, the contractor - they are all aware that it is not possible to do anything of the Southern expressway - was used as the case study to understand what went unauthorized in a project that's funded by the Bank. You can't unload soil on a site wrong, what went right; and the training process also helped the engineers to see the without a permit,; you can't operate quarries without licences. Everything must be true value of an Environment Impact Assessment as not just something for the Central above aboard. When the projects started one contractor asked us with some sarcasm Environmental Authority to be concerned about. They started seeing the importance of whether this was an environment project or a road project. But times have changed. integration." One important result of this has been that several contractors are practising a high standard of safeguards today" Darshani de Silva D.M.S. Dissanayake Environment Specialist, WB Environment and Social Specialist, PMU, RDA ,32 3 "The main challenges the implementing agency encounters may be the compliance with the World Bank's social and environmental policy and guidelines. Though the agency appreciates them, external pressure from other influential authorities may lead to the breach of the requirements by World Bank and derail the project. This is a sensitive issue for the Bank, whilst the implementing agency may take it lightly. And so a conflict crops up. However, the agency has now realized that the Bank would never compromise on these requirements regardless of the status or authority of the other parties who may influence them." S. Meihandan Project Director RSAP RDA August 2010 - April 2011 The World Bank's strategy of building capacity in the compliance of safeguards changed the mindse of the road agency as well as the contractors. Today, many contractors are adopting hese environmental and safety standards, as normal procedure, even outside RSAP. The local media has showcased RSAP as a project in which environmental issues have been well managed. ,34 3 "There was a lot of support to improve quality and to put environmental safeguards in place. We set up a Health, Safety and Environment Unit in 2005. We have been trained to develop an environment management action plan and follow it. We received a National Green Award by the Central Environmental Authority, as a result of our working practices that were influenced by the World Bank's RSAR" Piyadasa Madarasinghe Chief Executive Director MAGA Engineering Pvt Ltd, To overcome the resistance of some contractors to comply with safeguards, RSAP's national roads component introduced penalties for non-compliance for the first time in a roads project in Sri Lanka. Social safeguards RSAP used a social impacts management framework covering social safeguards. It included a detailed entitlement matrix for all types of negative impacts that could result from the roadworks, a grievance redress mechanism and space for public consultation. ,36 3 "There was something positive in the way World Bank officials identified our "When we do the safeguards for the road projects we do a social screening survey first,environmenta identifying whethe the social impacts are high or low. If we s ocial impacts within safeguards in a lax and lethargic way - as impediments to getting on with work. The the first screening, with land acquisitions and/or displacement of people and psie a n ddout to impleen the guds th wa a cnscis restrictions to access private properties, then we do what's called Resettlement Action Planning. Even if a road is being rehabilitated, we have to identify the corridor of impact change in our work ethic." and the people who are going to be temporarily affected during the construction and Piyadasa Madarasinghc plan how to mitigate the impacts. Chief Executive Director MAGA Engineering Pvt Ltd and Project Manager of MA GA's construction contract with RSAf In the Project Management Unit at the RDA there is a social and environmental officer He and / are directly connected. It's very easy for us to communicate with each other, discussand Surveillance program of the project, which was also responsible for ensuring the safety of pe at work, Mohamed Ghani Razaak Senior Social Development Specialist, WB Transport sector workers are highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS as many of them spend large amour time away from their homes. The workers are a migratory population, who often come to the ret through labour suppliers, and stay temporarily in labour camps. This in turn makes people living G highways and roads vulnerable. In order to minimize a possible health hazard due to lac knowledge, the World Bank introduced an HIV/AIDS awareness program in the projects th i finances in the transport sector. In Sri Lanka, even though the prevalence of HIV is considered relatively low, i.e. less than 0. 1 per cn Health and Safety of the population, concerns remain because of several risk and vulnerability factors like high rate STDs and low levels of awareness on HIV. HIV/ADS awareness workshops were held for Safe working practices for workers was a difficult area for the Bank to enforce. It was not easy to workers, project staff, resident engineers and technical staff, NGO and BO members, Governm convince workers about using safety equipment like helmets, jackets and boots People didn't really officials, police and army officials, school teachers and students, and also for the officials fromt see the need, and they didn't like the discomfort, But the project persistedl local authorities responsible for promoting health. 3ei Resolving people's grievances The grievance redress system that the project put in place made it possible for the public to resolve their problems quickly, transparently and out of court. Complaints were addressed speedily - sometimes even in a day or two. The public also had the benefit of a specially allocated hotline to access project management with concerns and complaints. If people do not agree with the solution offered, a Grievance Redress Committee (GRC) is formed so that they can make their case. The committee's chairman is usually the RDA Provincial Director of the area and the Secretary the RDAs Chief Engineer of the area. Other members include the Divisional Secretary, the Chairman of the loca authority and a community leader. Depending on the complaint, others may be invited to participate as well. The committee has a hearing, and more often than not there is a solution. If there is no agreement, people can take legal action, RSAP received over 4000 complaints; all but two were resolved on site, More than 60% of the public complaints or requests have been related to house access, 25% to road access, and 10% to retaining and parapet walls. Only one person went on to take legal action on a complaint about construction works causing water logging. A total of 4194 public complaints were addressed through RSAP's grievance redress mechanism, People often refer to the World Bank's safeguard policies to protect their interests. "The general public is increasingly aware that when the World Bank funds a project that Its policies need to be put into practice. So this knowledge helps them deal better with issues and grievances that they may encounter in the course of road construction." Susrutha Goonasekera Social Development Specialist, WB "Third party" benefit monitoring An innovative concept that the RSAP introduced as a pilot initiative on the Kantale -Trincomalee road was a system of monitoring benefits from the perspective of users and stakeholders. This would be a means of gaining their views regard ng the road construction so that they could influence the design and implementation of the project. The long-term objective was to make benefit monitoring by project beneficiaries an integral part of road sector monitoring processes. The Centre for Poverty Analysis was the intermediary, creating links between the user groups and the implementers of the program, so that the former could proactively make suggestions. "RSAP wanted to see how the people could get involved in monitoring the project. It was called third party monitoring - but it was more beneficiary monitoring. The total community was considered a monitoring group. It had not been tried in Sri Lanka before. We mobilized three different groups of people living along the road, one of them was from the transporters' association, comprising bus drivers and owners and three-wheeler drivers, called the Kantale Transporters' Association. They felt they had a direct stake and had a huge number of suggestions. We could see that they should have been the first point of call in terms of project design and planning because they knew which the blind spot was, where the road has failed, where it goes under water etc, When we talked to the RDA we saw they had taken some of these suggestions on board. We then talked to the people, helped them communicate with the RDA, and the RDA responded - so the community was quite impressed." K. Romeshun Team Leader Poverty Assessment and Measurement Centre for Poverty Analysis 42 43 Land donation Social welfare by contractors An interesting new idea first practised by the RSAP was the donation of land by the public and An unexpected outcome of the project was the range of voluntary community welfare work done by community members if the project needed a small piece of land to straighten a bend or build a road contractors for the benefit of communities resident in the areas of construction. On the Padeniya - shoulder, so that road construction could progress without long delays. Puttalam road, for example, the contractor dug up and rehabilitated a rural tank, which lay abandoned. People in the area now use it to irrigate their paddy fields. On other contracts they have built rooms for school libraries, renovated school and hospital buildings, helped build access roads for temples, churches and mosques, and provided machinery to improve narrow access roads. Demonstration Road Safety Corridor A five-pillar approach formulated by the UN on road safety was adopted to design a 17 km "The land was donated by the landowners quite willingly as they saw the increase in the safety corridor from .R atmalana to Nalluruwa - a stretch of road with a high level of road accidens price of their land or increase in economic activity that increased their profit. These A committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Highways, the RDA, the Traffic Pc donations were formalized through a land donation agreement with the Divisional the Ministry of Health, the four local authorities on the corridor (Dehiwala / MountLavinia, Moratu Secretary's involvement. So when the land is donated, we usually have a few structures Panadura and Kalutara), the University of Moratuwa, the Ministry of Transport and the National Couci to replace. It could be a wall that had to be rebuilt or even a gate. The agreement was for Road Safety (NCRS) designed and implemented the demonstration corridor that has attemptE that the structures replaced, should be in the same or better condition. We always strengthen some of the pillars identified, such as developing infrastructure that is safe, improving ra provided them better structures. Over 150 families donated land to the project. But there user behavior, and commencing a dialogue towards strengthening post-crash care services. were a few people who did not come forward, so we then had to adjust the design." committee consulted a range of stakeholders including the private bus owners' associa three-wheeler drivers, the general public from the locality and the local authorities. A SafetyAui D.M.S. Dissanayake conducted by the University of Moratuwa provided additional information. A key finding was that Environment and Social Specialist, PMU,PDA of the fatal accidents in the locality have involved pedestrians and cyclists. Thus, the launch o new safety corridor saw the parallel launch of Kalana Mithura - an awareness campaign, ing multi-media including street drama and animated road signs, to promote good pedestrian practice The campaign saw the active involvement of school children, the police and the local communit l 44 r轍 즈6 Facilitating the enhancement of RDA capacity The RDA had over a period suffered from external consultants carrying out designs with the risk ol design requiring additional quantities, or technical errors being borne by the Government, R RSAP's continuous commitment to facilitating the enhancement of the RDA as a centre that encouraged the designs to be carried out through RDA's design units established with effectively manages the country's road sector assets has already started paying dividends. re-engineering of the RDA, This was the first opportunity that RDA had of implementing its designs under an externally funded project, A similar initiative was carried out for building superv capacity, where a pilot project was implemented to supervise the Kantale - Trincomalee section unit within the RDA. "RSAP gave us the equipment and software that we needed to manage our roads. We Setting up an Asset Management System can analyze the road life cycle, we can determine what we need to do, Road pavement, traffic, bridges, accident data - all this information we bring to one system to analyze the whole network. For the data collection, RSAP supported us in two ways., RDA had identified the need for an integrated Asset Management System, In response, R we received the equipment to measure the strength of roads and we got all the support assisted the RDA to set up an Asset Management System that would allow the authority to invent we needed to Improve our systems, We have a Highway Management and and monitor the performance of its road assets. Such systems, if correctly implemented, will mini Maintenance System in place and are in the process of putting in place an Integrated the governance issues that the sector has been lately accused of. In the longer term this V Road Asset Management System. ensure proper maintenance of the road network that will incur less expenditure for its infrastru( program and provide a service demanded of a middle-income country, The RDA will only der1VE In the area of the Environment, we have very good capacity now. Notjust that, we have benefits from such a system through continuous use and timely updating. got more and more involved in feasibility studies and economic analysis of our own projects. The World Bank, by recognizing us, has helped improve our capacity in all the areas: construction management, planning, project formulation, construction design, acquisitions, construction supervision, maintenance. The Bank is helping improve our "The Importance of this project goes beyond support to the sector It led to a better wa staff development capacity. If consultants do all the work, all the studies, no capacity is of doing business, leading to stronger interaction with the govemment, strengtheninc built within the local teams." their capacity, particularly their understanding of the value of safeguards and clos& coordination with other donor partners. These have helped lay the foundation fo) long-term impacts. H. M. K. G. G. Bandara Director - Planning, Ministry of HIghways Zia Aijalal) 2007 - February 2015 Senior Social Development Specialist, WE 6 Roaclworks Rehabilitation of national roads The rehabilitation of 800 km of national roads, that contributed to the marked improvement in the condition of the national road network, comprised selected sections of the main arteries from the poverty engulfed Uva Province to developing connectivity to the Eastern Province as well as urban roads in the Western Province, RSAP also assisted GOSL to rehabilitate the damaged coastal network to the Southern Province. 5bu5 ROAD SECTOR ASSTANCE PROJECT (RSAP) * SECOWDADITIOMALFINANCING- va ed ml n ~ A M KM ana- MtøoIÉma KM ¶a-sa-M-Sm eK KT 54 K fLana Mi MS 1 a -.w - ri--t useemmemmnauema ..mumKRemMaNan= tarsewn oesouoo a anamm an M - MeNaun Responding to the Tsunami Even before the roadworks planned under the RSAP began, the project had to deal with a national crisis of unprecedented proportions. The Tsunami of 2004 struck Sri Lanka barely a year after RSAP began its journey. The magnitude of the impact of the disaster called for an immediate response from the donor community as well as the road sector The rehabilitation of the roads damaged by the tsunami was coordinated by the Ministry of Highways with the assistance of TAFREN [Task Force for Rehabilitating the Nation]. Bank credits in severa sectors were immediatey restructured to channe funds for the reconstrucion of damaged infrastructure as we as for lvelihood support. RSAP made some adjustments to incorporate the A2 from Kalutara to Matara, one of the country's busiest roads, Starting at the 47 km South of Kalutara and ending at 1 61 kilometers on the outskirts of Matara, the 11 4 km road stretch became the first post tsunami road rehabilitation project to be completed in 2005, The project cost of US$ 33 million was funded through the World Bank's International Development Agency (IDA) and consisted of a grant of 40% and credit of 60%. 54l55 "The tsunami posed an immediate problem to us. At that time most of the roads from Colombo to Mullaitivu and even beyond became impassable. So our prime task was to make it passable. Clearing all debris, filling the potholes, a lot of those things we did with local funding, then we sought donor funding for the permanent work. We were quick in reacting to the tsunami While so many discussions were going on in the other sectors. I convened all the donors who were already in the road sector - ADB, WB, all of them, and we allocated various sections of roads to the consultants. They came up with proposals within two weeks and we compiled it as one proposal At that time donors also had a big problem, they wanted to help but they did not know where to invest. When we submitted this proposal to the donor forum, the donors were quick to respond." S. Amarasekera Secretary to the Prime Minister (2010 - 2015) and Secretary to the Ministry of Highways (2005 - 2010 56 5 Uonnectg the -,iL-u noon nected A systematic and effective plan to address the challenges of rural road rehabilitation and maintenance in Sri Lanka was long overdue. A key challenge addressed by RSAP was the lack of capacity in the local authorities as well as local contractors for the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads, This stood in the way of an integrated and reliable rural road system that connected people with regional economic centres and enabled the reduction of poverty. "Each Pradeshiya Sabha has just one technical officer, usually without adequate technical knowledge. The project launched a systematic program for their technical education, particularly in the area of road rehabilitation, We carried out the construction work through small contractors with limited experience. So it was a learning curve for them too. A capacity-building exercise. The contractors went through on-the-job training, beginning with how to process the documents and prepare programs; how to select materials, how to carry out quality control and testing. This continued throughout the process of construction." S.G. Chandradasa Deputy Project Director, RSAP Ministry and Provincial Councils and Local Government In addition to the rehabilitation of 160 km of roads and the building of local capacity, RSAP produced a rural roads database and along with it a rural roads development strategy. The data generated includes information such as road condition, vulnerability of roads to flooding, number of families with direct access, percentage of Samurdhi (government welfare) recipients living along the roads, and the main use of the roads - whether used for industrial or agricultural transport The pilot project provided a good ndication of the benefits arising from simple, but well-structured road interventions that enhanced both mobility and access to services and markets. 60U6 Rural Roads Rehabilitation: Some key results from Road user perspectives from Moneragala, RSAP's pilot project areas' one of Sri Lanka's most marginalised districts' * The percentage of families with immediate access to an 'All Weather Road" rose from 48.3% to 70.9%. "Before the road came we went to town only to buy medicines. Even during the New * Agricultural sales points increased by 160% and service providers of different sorts - ranging from Year, the young girls didn't go to town because it was Impossible to travel on the road. communications centres to repair workshops - increased by 143%. When the men went to the town to buy things for the household nearly half the money was spent on arrack2. Now it is different. On Sunday the bus is filled to capacity with * In the survey areas, 14% of students moved from their poorly resourced schools and gained women going to the pola3. We carefully choose what we buy There is a wider choice. admission to schools located in towns - with better facilities and better quality teachers. Some things needed by young girls which men could not get in the shops, now they Moreover, school attendance of both students and teachers showed a definite improvement. get it themselves" Student attendance increased by an average of 45% - ranging from 40% to 60% with seasonal fluctuations. "The biggest benefit from the improved road is for us women. I have four children and how I suffered only I know. To go to the clinic it takes a day. What I did was over a * A competitive market environment emerged, with small enterprises diversifying their range of month before the delivery date of the baby I went to my uncle's home in Bibile and after products and increasing annual turnover. However, some small businesses who found it difficult the birth I stayed with them for about a month. It was inconvenient for them and to adjust to the changing environment, became non-viable and closed down. expens ve for us. The present day mothers are very fortunate because of the road." " Improved roads also created a competitive environment for marketing agriculture produce, withHihaiNnwti local producers better able to negotiate for favourable prices. iblomemake W Improved labour mobility and employment opportunities for people saw household incomes taking an upward turn. w Road development encouraged new settlements - leading to increased land values. a focm grop discaason in Meagahakua, Rural Acceasibilty Survey - Rura Roads Fiat Component, Mtt psW a of Local Government ano Froyincal Co wnci de. 2012 2Localy pro iced afcohoi *ura Acceaaiiity SIrvey - al Roadsa Pilot Componant, Miniatry of oca Government and Froa nmctl Com reits 2012 aMargut ppace 62ihmiNnd6ah "I earn a living by sawing timber on a contract basis. Earlier, / had no option but to walk looking for work - 3 km, 5 km, up to 7 km. And once / get a job / reside in the area for a few days to complete the job. It was not possible to travel daily to the sawing site." H.M. Dayaratne Sawyer "What I say is that the road is our children's future. If it gets damaged our children will go back to square one. So we must think of this as our road and protect and maintain it. We can do it voluntarily but some things need technical knowledge and the Technical Officer of the Pradeshiya Sabha must be directed to help us." Punchi Banda Ratnayake Farmer 64 6 8 F'ing Rothoes RSAP was of course not an ent rely smooth journey. The challenges experienced have been careuly documented so that the lessons learnt and recommendations made can be taken into account in future projects. During the long period of implementation of RSAP much of the learning has alry been heeded and changes reflected in the recent investments. Delays in approvals: Road contractors had to deal with delays caused by the time tn by both the Central Environment Authority and the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB to issue approvals and icenses. A realistic timeline, taking account of the ground situation, needs to be built into contract periods to avoid unnecessary contractual delays.The Bank also suggestso revision of guidelines for the issue of licences so that less time is taken for the process. Wit the intention of addressing this delay the RDA had obtained licences in its own name which were transferred to the contractor without assuming the risk. 66 6 Changes to design: The National Road Sector Master Plan, which was finalized in 2007, Involvement of provincial staff: Effective engagement and interest of the provincia required the widening of roads from 5.5 m to 6.2 m. This called for changes in design after the award staff at the design stage could have prevented some of the variation orders that resulted from of the civil works contracts - causing delays in implementation as well as the escalation of costs and provincial requirements reaching the project several years after its commencement, sometimes questioning the capacity of the contractors to undertake the increased workload, Identifying all of the parameters at the beginning of project implementation will prevent recourse to Involvement of communities: Consultations were carried out at the inception of the avoidable variations that are time and cost intensive. project to fully understand the requirements of communities and to incorporate these needs within the project at the design stage. Experience has however shown that communities effectively engage in Physical variations: The project experienced variations, which were 31 % of the original such discussions predominantly during implementation. Therefore community consultations need to awarded price. The design changes made to accommodate the widening of the road as well as be carried out during the implementation of the contracts as well. designs of culverts and drains not being identified upfront have contributed to this issue. This situation arose due to the appropriate design requirements regarding culverts and drains not being identified Spread of roads in the project and staff of the supervision at the design stage. Moreover, revisions needed to be made to the contract drawings because they consultant: As the RSAP was the first project for rehabilitation, the priority roads across the did not match the ground profile. The revised 'vertical profiles' inevitably increased contract costs. The entire nation were included and the geographical spread made it more difficult to supervise al of these Bank recommends that the RDA should stipulate cross sections at shorter intervals for preparing sections as the RDA themselves were not accustomed to supervision at such a scale. Moreover, detailed engineering designs,The Bank also recommends the use of 'Design-Build' and 'Fixed-Price since there are many donors involved in the rehabilitation of national roads, it would have been Lump Sum' contracts to prevent avoidable physical variations during project implementation. The operationally easier if the projects were less spread out. RDA has also expressed interest in transferring some of the risks to the private contractors that they are best able to bear. Unavailability of bitumen: The project has suffered from shortages in the avalabilty of bitumen due to the high demand created by the roadworks. The monopoly supplier, the Ceylon Estimation of contract periods: The original contract periods had been understated Petroleum Corporation, in the past was not able to match demand with supply. The GOSL having and the contracts neither fully appreciated nor reflected the work involved in difficult terrains, nor the recognized this difficulty issued licences to allow the importation of bitumen by private contractors additional work due to variations not fully reflecting the time for delays in environmental clearances, which later required additional time for expansion of the scope of work. The isolation of PMUs: The Project Management Unit was earlier isolated due to limited participation from other units of the RDA - a situation somewhat aggravated by the differences in the Sufficient time for completion of designs: Some of the shortcomings of the incentives structure that applied to PMUs within the Government systems. The earlier interventions of designs arose as a result of the short time periods allowed for the designs due to the urgency of the the project suffered teething problems as a result of this separation, but this was subsequenty project. rectified by engaging the design units, planning division, R&D unit etc., in the activities carried out by the PMU, 68R6 Dest'nat ons reached The destinations reached by RSAP signify its achievements, They indicate the development of road sector assets as wel as asset management practices: 1 Rehabilitating and maintaining 800 km of national roads and 160 km of rural roads 2 Reducing the national highways in poor condition from 52 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in 2012 3 Improving the International Roughness Index from 9.5 to 6.2 4 Reducing the average vehicle operating costs tor the national highways from Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) 23.9/km to LKR 14.21/km 5 Encouraging the Government of Sri Lanka to increase annual maintenance investments from US$13 million in 2005, to US$30 million in 2006, and US$46 million in 2010. The GOSL contribution to maintenance for 2014 has increased to USD 64 million 6 Creating a rural roads database for approximately 95,000 km across 326 Pradeshiya Sabhas enabling the more rational and strategic rehabilitation of rural roads 7 Strengthening RDA's capacity for road analysis and testing, feasibility studies and road designs Improving local private sector capacity for road construction Using road safety audits in design and post completion Using technical audits Integrating the Project Management Unit with the RDA team system Developing a User Satisfaction Index for the national road network Developing RDA capacity towards enforcing environmental and social safeguards Providing innovative pilot schemes for the rehabilitation of rural roads in three provinces 70 71 . "The Second Phase of RSAP was prepared incorporating lessons learnt from the First Phase - and has had the benefit of in-house capacity for preparation of feasibility studies, contract documents, engineering designs and piloting of in-house construction supervision. During this phase, RSAP was also able to coordinate with the Water Supply and Drainage Board to lay water pipelines on the A2 and A3 road sections, which was also financed by the project. This required substantial effort from the RDA and the NWSDB - two Government agencies that had not previously worked together Furthermore, the project has many rich lessons learnt in creating awareness of safety issues as well as a strong complaint handling and resolving mechanism, able to respond to a demanding urban population. Dishna Mudannayake Project Directo, PMU, RDA "Development starts mostly with infrastructure development in any country and the road sector is forerunner among these. The World Bank's re-entry to Sri Lanka and introduction of well laid down procedures and safeguard measures has contributed towards this in no small measure. Sometimes rigid, nevertheless required processes put in place holds the policymakers in check and control in an environment of uncertainty. That / think is the strength and success of the Bank when it comes to the project in Sri Lanka, and other developing countries." B.V.D.N Chandrasiri Director General RDA (from May 2015) Former Additional Director General, and Project Directot Southern Transport Development Project no he Way -orwarc RSAP has been a partnership between the World Bank and the Government of Sri Lanka that has travelled a long journey through many phases of reform with significant impacts on the country's construction industry as well as the Road Development Authority itself, The World Bank's focus has been not just to lend money or rehabilitate roads, but also to achieve development effectiveness by helping the country derive the maximum benefit, It looks at the change the sector needs to make in the longer term to help it achieve the required efficiencies. In its new interventions, the Bank aims to support Sri Lanka's road sector to function more efficiently and optimize the use of funds. One important priority area is the long-term, continuous maintenance of the assets to be achieved through a change in the RDAs business model. 74 7 The RDA currently carries out ad-hoc maintenance based on the availability of finance, concentrating on the "worst first", where the already rehabilitated network has been put at risk. The RDA is now in the process of transitioning to an asset management concept where the planning, the interventions and managing the asset is done over a longer time horizon rather than annually. This will allow the private contracting entity to attend to required interventions on a timely basis, using a DBMOT Mode. Due to the sharing of risk between the RDA and the contracting entity, some of the issues previously "Several tools have been practised in several parts of the world to overcome issues on encountered by RDA can be mitigated. Long-term asset management ensures that the correct thing input based contracts and inadequate focus on maintenance. The most common and is done at the correct time and the road users get a well-maintained network of roads. This, in turn, successful tool, the Design-Build-Maintain-Operate and Transfer concept (DBMO7) reduces travel time, vehicle operating costs, costs arising from road accidents - a considerable has been successfully implemented in several regions. DBMOT is where the private saving to the country's economy not forgetting the satisfaction of the road users, sector carries out the design, construction and maintenance over a long period, sharing risks with the Government." The construction contracts currently in implementation in Sri Lanka are based on payment being made on the amount of materials used; there is little incentive for contractors to save costs, As a Seo PHaider Raza result, the quantity variations and resulting contract payments are high. The Government is therefore unable to have certainty in expenditure and need to secure funds beyond the budgeted amount. Moreover, if something goes wrong with the design, that risk must also be borne by the Government The Bank is therefore assisting the RDA to adopt a contract format that is more beneficial for the country as a whole, which will provide the Government price certainty, and share risks between the Government and the contractor, This will also encourage innovation by providing incentives to the contractor to save costs, ensuring value for money. 76 7 "Our aim is to take RDA a notch higher by helping the organization change its business mode/ and evolve into a more service oriented organization. This will enable the RDA to mitigate some of the risks presently experienced and achieve efficiency in expenditure, that will also benefit the local construction industry by providing them access to continuous long term work which will incentivize skill development" Amali Rajapaksa Sr Infrastructure Specialist, WB "Under RSAP the World Bank helped us build our capacity in different fields. Training was a priority The Bank is helping the RDA move away from a project implementation agency to an assets management agency That is our vision." R.W.R. Premasiri Secretary, Ministry of Highways, Ports and Shipping December 2011 January 2015 78 79 蠢皴 呂0 Notes