Announcement of World Bank Approves Sixty-Two Million Dollars for Third Highway Project in Morocco on April 17, 1980

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , .World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 80/76 Apr i 1 l 7 , 1980 WORLD BANK APPROVES $62 MILLION FOR THIRD HIGHWAY PROJECT IN MOROCCO The World Bank has approved a $62 million loan for a third highway project in Morocco. The project will assist in improving and extending road maintenance and initiate a long-term program of pavement strengthening and resurfacing. The $199 million Bank-assisted project includes a pavement strengthening and preservation program on about l ,700 kilometers of primary and secondary roads, and a three-and-a-half-year program of routine and periodic road maintenance. The project includes the provision of equipment and technical assistance to the Ministry of • Public Works for implementing the program and technical assistance to help formulate and implement transportation policy by the Ministry of Transportation. The main beneficiaries will be road users, who would face quickly rising transportation costs if deterioration of the network were ~??;:;·.:::d to continue. The benefits will be widely distributed geographically. About 55% of the operating cost savings will accrue to truckers, 40% to passenger car owners and 5% to bus operators. The World Bank loan is for a term of 19 years, including four years of grace, with interest at 8.25% per annum. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T ECHN I CAL D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Third Highway Morocco $1 99 mi 11 ion • BANK Ff NANC I NG : $62 million for a term of 19 years, including four years of grace, with an interest at 8.25% per annum OTHER FI NAl~C I NG; Kingdom of Morocco, $137 mill ion IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Transportation Rabat, Maroc (MPW - Telex 31959M; MOT - Telex 31959M) PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It aims to help the government protect past investments in the road network by bringing into operation a rational system of road maintenance and by initiating a long-term program of pavement strengthen- ing and resurfacing. To this end the project comprises: (a) a three and a half-year time sl1ce of a pavement strengthening and preservation program, on about 1,700 kilometers of primary and secondary roads; (b) a three and a half year program of routine and periodic road maintenance, including the purchase of equipment; and (c) technical assistance to the Ministry of Public Works, to help in preparing and implementing the above. The pr··- ect also aims at strengthening the formulation and implementation of transportation pol icy by the Ministry of Transportation by providing technical assistance in transporta- tion planning and economics, as well as by furnishing weighing scales. PROCU.REMENT: Contracts for the pavement works, the road maintenance equipment and the weighing scales will be awarded after international competitive bidding according to the Bank's guidelines for procurement. Bids for the equipment for the pavement evaluation center will be invited on the basis of limited international tendering because of a limited number of suppliers. Bitumen will be procured by the semi-public agency SEBLIMA. CONSULTANTS: For the Ministry of Public Works: (i) a cost accountant to advise on improving present cost accounting methods; (ii) an expert to help develop procedures for the maintenance of equipment; and (iii) an expert to advise on staff recruitment and training needs for the operation of heavy equipment. For the Ministry of Transportation: A team leader and an expert for each of the l~nd, air, maritime and urban transportation sub-sectors. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 50% 1984 - 0 - •