Announcement of Guinea-Bissau Receives First IDA Credit of Nine Million Dollars for Roads on February 1, 1979

FOR IMMEDIATE REtEASE eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 79/43 Feb r ua ry 1 , 19 79 GUINEA-BISSAU RECEIVES FIRST IDA CREDIT OF $9 MILLION FOR ROADS The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's affiliate for concessional lending, is extending a $9 million credit to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau to help implement a three-year road rehabilitation and maintenance program. This is the first operation financed by IDA in Guinea-Bissau since the country became a member of the World Bank and IDA in March 1977. The poor condition of the road network in the country, caused by a lack of funds and skilled manpower, is a serious constraint to Guine~-Bissau's rural development strategy. The roads project, to be completed by early 1983, will rehabilitate and maintain 226 kilometers (km) of asphalt roads and 388 km of gravel roads. Three field brigades will be established to carry out the road work. • The project provides for the purchase of highway maintenance equipment and spare parts, materials and supplies for civil works, workshop equipment, tools, and three transshipment facilities at river ports in the south. A national axle-load program will be initiated with the use of a portable axle- weighing device. Technical assistance is being provided to assist in project execution, to train local roads staff (mechanics, brigade foremen, and equip- ment operators) to assume operational responsibilities, and to strengthen the planning and operational capacity of the Commissariat for Public Works (CPW), the project's implementing agency, by training about 180 CPW personnel. The rehabilitation of paved roads carried out under this project will postpone expensive reconstruction that would otherwise be needed and that could be a serious drain on the government's development budget. The project will also reduce vehicle operating costs on paved and gravel roads and improve transport of agricultural products and inputs and consumer goods for farm families. Some 8,000 to 10,000 rural families, about one-third of the popula- tion in the Bafata and Gabu regions in the north, will enjoy increased cash income from better access to markets for their groundnut and cotton export crops. About 12,000 to 15,000 rural families in the Buba and Tombali regions of the south will benefit from better access to domestic markets for their surplus rice and from greater access to social services. The $9 million IDA credit is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It is interest free, except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% a year to cover IDA's administrative expenses • • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T ECHNI CAL DA T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Roads The Republic of Guinea-Bissau $ lO. l 5 mi l l i on •• I DA F I NANC I NG : $9 million, standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: Government of Guinea-Bissau, $1.15 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Commissariat for Public Works, Construction, and Urban Affairs (CPW) · Bissau, Guinea-Bissau TELEX: 969-11 CABLE: BANGUINE, Bissau PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It will implement a three-year program to patch, reseal, and maintain 226 kilometers of asphalt roads and to rehabilitate and maintain 388 kilometers of gravel roads. Highway maintenance equipment and spare parts, materials and supplies for civil works, workshop equip- ment, tools, and three transshipment facilities at river ports· in the south, wil 1 be provided. A national axle-load cont1-ol program will be initiated. Technical • assistance (216 man-month~) will be provided for project execution, local roads' staff training, and strengthening the planning and operational capacity of CPW. PROCU.REMENT: Bitumen, steel culverts, some building materials, equipment for the field brigades, workshops, and the transshipment facilities amounting to $3.6 million will be procured through international competitive bidding in accordance with World Bank guidelines. In evaluating the bids for equipment, consideration will be given to the availability of after-sales service and spare parts. Field-workshop equipment, survey and laboratory equipment, and radios will be procured following quotations from suppliers or bought off-the-shelf, provided the total purchases do not exceed $200,000. Spare parts for the rehabilitation of existing equipment will be bought from the original suppliers (up to a total of $100,000). Fuel and cement will be procured locally, through the Commissariat of Commerce and the Directorate for Imports of Petroleum Products and Lubricants, up to a total amount of $1 million. Their purchases are based on international tendering satisfactory to IDA. CONSULTANTS: Technical assistance and training to CPW for project execution is being provided by a consulting firm acceptable to IDA. Independent auditors will be employed to audit the project's accounts, and the Revolving Fund annual 1y. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: 33% ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1983 - 0 - •