Haiti - Second Highway Project

G --4-4-D-E --T l A L Report No. TO- 316 Copy No. This report is available only to those members of the staff to whose work it relates. Any further release must be authorized by the department head concerned. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION APPRAISAL OF SECOND HIGHWAY PlROJECT HAITI April 24, 196Z Department of Technical Operations  CURRENC Y EQUIVALENTS Official Rate of Exchang US $1. 00 = 5 Gourdes US $1, 000, 000 = 5, 000, 000 Gourdes 1, 000, 000 Gourdes = US $200, 000  HAITI APPRAISAL OF SECOND HIGHWAY PROJECT Table of Contents Page SUMMARY i-i I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BACKGROUND 1 A. The Highway System in 1954 l B. The First Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program 2 C. Highways in the South 3 III. ThE PROJECT 4 A. Description 4 Continuation of the Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program 4 The Jacm.el Road 6 B, Administration and Execution 6 C. Cost Estimates 7 D. Vehicle Load Regulations 8 E. Economic Justification 9 Continuation of the Mairitenance and Rehabilitation Program 9 The Jacmel Road 11 Complementary Measures 12 IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 13 APPENDICES Table 1 - List of Roads in the Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program Table 2 - Design Standards of the Jacmel Road Table 3 - Cost Estimatte of the Project Table 4 - Estimated Traffic Volumes on Roads in Network 2 Table 5 - Estimated Vehicle Operating Costs Table 6 - Estimated Road-User Benefits Map 1 : Haiti - Project Roads  HAITI APPRAISAL OF SECOND HIGHW4Y PROJECT SU--4ARY The Government of Haiti has asked the Association to assist in financing a project consisting of: a) The continuation and expansion of the present highway mainten- ance and rehabilitation program for a period of three years. b) The construction of the Jacmel Road in the Southern Peninsula. iie The existing highway maintenance program was initiated in 1956 but because of political instability and other problems little progress was made over the first three years. The establishment of a semi-autonomous agei?cy (the Service) in 1959 to maintain agid improve the road system resolved many of the earlier difficulties and permitted a fair degree of progress on the reha- bilitation of a selected group of roads in the north, and the establishment of an effective organization to carry out routine and special maintenance. iii. The maintenance and rehabilitation part of the Project includes (i) routine and special maintenance and further rehabilitation of 550 km of roads which have been partly rehabilitated under the existing project (Loan 1141-HA), (ii) the rehabilitation and reconstruction of six other roads totaling 362 km in length and (iii) the construction and equi.pping of four new district shops. iv0 The construction part of the Project consists of the design and con- struction of a 53-km two-lane all-weather road across the Southern Peninsula from Brache on the Port-au-Prince-Les Cayes road to the town of Jacmel. v0 Consultants satisfactory to IDA would be responsible for the execu- tion of the Project. The proposed design standards for the Jacmel Road are considered adequate with the exception of the width of right-of-way. vi. Rehabilitation work would be carried out by the Service while con- struction of the Jacmel Road would be contracted on the basis of international competitive bidding. vii. The total cost of the Project is estimated at US$9.0 million equiv- alent of which the foreign exchange component is US$5e33 million equivalent. The cost estimate for maintenance is based on actual costs of similar work, while that for construction is based on a thorough study of anticipated costs. Both include a reasonable allowance for contingencies including price in- creases. viii. The execution of the maintenance and rehabilitation part of the Project would result in an expansion of agricultural production by lowering transport costs, creating new markets, end opening up new areas of cultivation. The investment is justified because of the high rate of retu:n in the form of developmental benefits and savings in vehicle operating costs. However, to obtain the full benefit of the Project the Government should be asked to  undertake to intensify existing agricultural services in areas which would be served by the project roads, with special attention to the Jacmel area. ix. The construction of the Jacmel Road will open up the isolated but potentially productive and relatively heavily populated Jacmel region by providing an all-weather link with Port-au-Prince and the rest of the country. The quantifiable benefits from the construction of this road are not as large as for the maintenance project, but the beneficial effects this road will ha-se on the socio-economic conditions of the region are of great importance. x. As conditions nrecedent to negotiations: a) The Government of Haiti should return to the Service equipment which has been removed from the existing project. b) In respect to the Jacmel road construction, the Government should furnish evidence that it has secured financing for the Les Cayes Road or the section between Port-au-Prince and Brache and that construction will be completed before or simultaneously with the Jacmel Road. Yi. As conditions for the credit, the Government of' Haiti slhould under- take: a) To cause the Service to expand its operations into the Southern Peninsula as another step to its eventual assumption of responsi- bility for all roads in Haiti and to assume responsibility for the execution of road construction works. b) To retain consultants satisfactory to IDA for a period of three years for both the maintenance and construction parts of the Projectu, the terms of reference and conditions of employment to be subject to IDA approval. c) To step up within a three year period its monthly allocation for maintenance from Us$52,ooo to US$75,000 equivalent, and to make available as required non-4DA funds for the construction part of the Project. d) To intensify existing agricultural service in areas which would be served by the project roads with special attention to the Jacmel area. e) To continue to make adequate provisions for the maintenance of the road network under the care of the Service and to enforce legislation for vehicle weight control regulations. xii. Subject to satisfactory agreement on the matters in x and xi above, the Project would provide a suitable basis for a development credit to be made available by the Association,  I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Government of Haiti has approached the International Development Associationi (IDA) for a development credit to finance par'> of the cost of (a) the continuation for a three-year period of the highway maintenance and re- habilitation program started under an earlier Bank project and (b) the con- struction of a 53 km road to Jacmel. The total cost of the above Project would be $9.0 million equivalent. 2. The Bankts only loan to Haiti (141 HA.), made in May 1956, was for a three-year program to organize, equip and train an organization to rehabi- litate and maintain the national highway system. This program was not intend- ed to cover the whole road system of Haiti but only a selected group of roads. Despite many difficulties and delays as discussed below, substantial progress has been made. However, while much has been accomplished, more time and funds are needed to consolidate and expand the results obtained to date. 3. This report is based on information obtained by an IDA mission to Haiti in January and October 1961 and from reports prepared by Techint En- gineering Company, This firm of consultants prepared the report in 1955 on wqhich the Banc project was based, and were retained as consultants on that project by the Government. II. BACKGROUND A. The Highway System in 1954 4. The Bank mission which visited Haiti in November and December 1954 found that tVhe existing Highway Department within the Ministry of Public Works lacked the experience, personnel and equipment necessary for carrying out effectively a program of road rehabilitation, repair and maintenance. iMost of the roads had disintegrated to a level where motor vehicles could travel only with difficulty and at a considerable risk. A Lew roads which had been built during the last few years were in better condition but it was evident that immediate and continuous attention was needed to prevent their early failure. 5. The mission found that because of the deficiencies in the highway system, transportation and marketing were wasteful and inefficient. Proclucts for domestic consumption were carried to small isolated markets and passed through many successive steps before arritving at the major cornmercial centers, Commercial crops for export were bough:t in scattered locations which neces- sitated frequent re-handling. The mission also found that the lack of roads and the difficulties of transportation entailed great hardship to the public by holding down domestic consumption. Losses to the economy occurred when agricultural products could not be economically moved to market0 liuch time was lost in travel and in many areas only crops for local consumption were growin because of the difficulty of transporting produce to outside markets.  -2- 6. The mission conc7luded that while an adequate road system couild not, in itself, bring about a majo.r advancement in the economy, it was a prere- quisite for any improvement. It recommended a three-year program consisting of (a) the organization and development of a Maintenance Division in the Highway Department and the training of its personnel, (b) the provision of the necessary equipment, materials and supplies, and (c) the improvement to the level of serviceability and thereafter routine maintenance of approxi- mately 1,160 kilometers of roads wlhich comprise the more important routes in the existing 3,000 km highway system. A Bank loan of US$2.6 million equiv- alent was made for this program early in 1956. B. The First Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program 7. The program was based on a report prepared by a firm of consultants (Techint Engineering Comparny) engaged 'by the Government. After the loan was signed, Techint was engaged to assist in executing the project. The project envisioned the establishnent of a national maintenance organization wghich would assume responsibility for the maintenance of the countrys highhway system. The ocountry was to be divided into a number of maintenance districts, each with its own equipment, small repair slhops and office. A centr al shop, warehouse and head office would be located at Port-au-Prince, 8. Tho loan becaine effective on September 1, 1956. The collapse of the Magloire adrinistration in Decermber 1956 was followed bsy nearly a year of short-lived provisional governments during which no progress was made on the project. Llections were held in October 1957 and a new government took of- fice in the following month. In discussions between the Government and the Bank, it was agreed in January 1958 that there sholuld be a period of proba- tion to determine whether under the existing conditions the Government could execute the project, and that in this period disbursement of loan funds wou-ld be restricted, after iwhich the Bank would decide on the basis of the progress made whether to resume normal disbursements or cancel the loan. 9, The progress made on the existing project up to the end of the period was disappointing, although the Governmenttook steps to deal with some of the problems which had aroused the Bankts concern. Following the ap- pointment of a new IMIinister of Public works, the Bank decided to postpone its decision in the hope that he could give the project fresh impetus. However, the execution of the pro,ject continued to lag because of political inter- ference and by November 1958 the only alternative to cancellation of the loan appeared to be the exploration of a proposal that a degree of autonomy be given the maintenance organization within the iMinistry of Public ,Works, 10. On January 15, 1959, a Decree was issuedc setting up a semi-auto- nomous agency, the "Service Special dt-ntretien et dtAmelioration des Routes"? (dervice) to maintain and improve the highway system. This step, wqhich was recormmended in the consultants, study on which the project was originally based as a means of insulating the highway organization from political in- terference with its personnel, funds and equipment had hitherto been strongly resisted.