Liberia - Road Project

RET URN TO RE'-STRICTED REPORTS lE flIE Report No. TO-375b WITHIN fi ILECL I NE WEEKI This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The report may not be published nor may it be quoted as representing their views. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION APPRAISAL OF A ROAD PROJECT FOR LIBERIA December 30, 1963 Department of Technical Operations  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS The currency of Liberia is the US dollar.  AiPPRAISAL OF A ROAD PROJECT FOR LIBERIA TABLE OF CONT7NTS Page SM21ARY i -i I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BACKGROUND INFORMMTION 1 A. Country and People 1 III. THE HIGHT'fAY SYSTEM 3 A. Road Construci1cion to Date 3 B. Department of Public Wcrks and Utilities 5 C. M.laintenance Operations 6 D. Planning and Design of Roads 6 E. Design Standards 7 IV. DESCRIPTION OF TI-i PROJECT 7 A. General Description 7 B. Estimated Project Costs 8 C. Financing the Project 9 D. Design Standards and Execution of the Project 10 V. ECONOIZC JUSTIFICATION 12 A. Kle-Pujehun Road 12 B. Schiefelin-Robertsfield Road 14 VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 TABLE 1 HAP  APPRAISAL OF A ROAD PROJECT FOR LIBERIA Strmuary is The Liberian Government has requested Bank financing for the external cost component of a road project consisting of: a. The construction, including a large bridge, of two roads of a total length of 62 miles, and the asphalt surfacing on 27 milesl on one of these routes and an existing road which it extends. b. Procurement of road maintenance equipment, spare parts and repair facilities. ii. The project incorporates the suggestions and advice of a Bank mission which visited Liberia in January 1963. The Government originally proposed a bigger project, which was not properly prepared and too ambitious. iii. The total cost of the project including a 15 percent contingency allowance, is estimated at US$4.-o million of which US$3.25 million including interest during construction would be the external cost component to be financed by Bank loan. iv. An extensive road network has been developed in Liberia during the last 10 years. It has been financed by external loans and foreign supplier's credits, at comparatively high construction cost per mile. This external debt has been incurred for the full cost of the roads, not only the external cost component. v. The Department of Public 1Works and Utilities (DPWU) is in charge of all public roads in Liberia. Its operations are being reorganized by a U.S. consulting firm retained under an AID grant to assist the DPWU in strengthening and expanding its organization for road construction and road maintenance. The consulting firm is working under terms of reference wh.ich are satisfactory to the Bank. The same consultants will be retained for checking the survey and design of the two roads prepared by the DRiU and supervising the work in the field. vi. One of the project roads, EgAeba12.n will be an access road to a planned logging and sawmill operation for which a concession is being negotia- ted. There would be sufficient economic benefits from this operation alone to justify the road; there would be potentialities of agricultural development on the lands to be cleared, and the planned route would link Monrovia, Liberia's capital, with an isolated region which might begin to emerge from subsistence agriculture if and when road access is provided. The construction of the Kle-Pujehun road will not be started before the logging concession is granted, and the Government will start planning, concurrently, how best to realize the agricultural potentialities. vii. The other road, Schiefelin-Robertsfield, will complete a new route,  - ii - 33 percent shorter than the present route, from Monrovia to Rohertsfield, where the Firestone Ruboer Plantation and the country's only international airport are both located. The road-user savings on the pC-esent traffic volum1e would return some 40 percent on the economic costj part of the existing vehicla fleet would be disengaged for other transport work, and more effective use of existing port facilities could eventually result. The project is therefore economically sound. viii. The Bank obtained assurances during the loan negotiations that the Government will: a. Reform the present system of road construction and maintenance along lines satisfactory to the Bank. b. Employ consultants satisfactory to the Bank to check the design and specifications of the twio roads and supervise the work ir. the field. c. Provide annual budget appropriations for road building and road maintenance in amounts sufficient for the local costs of the project and for proper maintenance and repair of the entire road network. d. Grant, before disbursements are made for the Kle-Pujehun road suitable logging concession for the area to be reached by this road. e. Before completion of the project prepare a program for the agricultural development of this area. ix. The Bank is justified in extending a loan of US$3.25 million, equal to the estimated external cost component of the project, for a period of 18 years. Because of the country's tight financial position over the coming years, an 8-year period of grace is proposed.  - 1 - I. INTRODUCTION 1. In October 1962, the Liberian Government asked the Bank to help finance the construction and reconstruction of about 245 miles of main road estimated to cost US$12.5 million. A Bank mission visited Liberia in January 1963 and concluded that the project was too ambitious and not properly prepared, but that a smaller, more realistic project would be acceptable. The present project conforms with the mission's views. It includes: (a) con- struction of two new roads totaling 62 miles; (b) surfacing 27 miles on one of these roads and on an existing road which it extends; and (e) the procurement of road maintenance equipment. The Goverrment concurs with the revised project, and asks that the Bank finance the external cost component. 2. The total cost of the project, including a 15 percent continger.cy allowance, is estimated at US$4.-o million, of which the external cost componnt totals US$3.25 million, which includes financing the interest during construco-. tion. II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A. Country and People 3. Liberia was founded in 1822 to be a home'and for freed negroes frcm the U.S.A. It became an independent republic in 1847 with a constitution modeled on that of the United States. It was, until recently, one of the feT independent states in Africa, and the only negro republic other than Haiti. 4. Liberia is located on the coast of WIest Africa between 40 and 80 north latituide. The land area totals 43,000 square miles, uith a population estimated at 1 million, and the coastline extends some 350 miles. Liberia is bordered on the north by Sierra Leone, on the northeast by Guinea and on the east by the Ivory Coast. 5. Situated along the coast near the Equator, Liberia has a tropical climate with two seasons, a relatively dry, hot period from November to April and a very wet but cooler period frcm April to November. Total annual rainfall averages 200 inches along the coast, falling to about 70 inches in the interior. Temperatures vary seasonally from 75 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 6. The depth of the coastal plain varies from 20 to [0 miles. Inland, the country slopes upward to an altitude of about 800 feet by rolling hills and small ranges of lowjer mountains. The mountains rise higher near the border of Guinea, reaching altitudes of more than 4,000 feet.  - 2 7, The entire land area wvas originally covered with tropical forest. However, the cultivated areas where the population is now concentrated have been transformed over the years into tlow-bush" country covered by second- growth forest. These areas are cleared for cultivation periodically by slashing and burnirng the trees and are then allowed to revert to natural growth for some years while the cultivators move on elsewlnere. 81 Liberia has soils capable of producing sufficient grain, root, and tree crops to feed its people and substantial amounts of such export crops as rubber" cocoa beans, paln kernels, and piassava fiber. The high rainfall and humid climate are favorable for the cultivation of rubber. The export of rubber began about 30 years ago; rubber is now grown in quantity at several large plantations (see N4ap) and has become one of Liberia1s main exports, 9. Liberia also has mineral resources, particularly iron ore of rLch tenor. Foreign iron and steel companies have developed ore nining complexes at Bomi Hills, Mano River, and Mount Nimba (see I-lap) which suppl-y large quantities of ore to U.S. and European mills, Diamonds and gold are a'so mired and other minerals have been located such as bauxite, manganese, lead, mica, and ilmenite. l0o However, Liberia has no coal or oil resources of its own, There are some small fisheries. As elsewhere in Central Africa, wildlife and livestock are scarce, and beans, peas, and other pulses are not cultivated in sufficient amounts to coi,pensate for the lack of animal proteinis, The population therefore suffers from a severe protein deficiency, although the grain, roots, and tree crops provide enough calories for a subsistence diet. 114 A road network has been developed in Liberia during the past 10 years (see lNIap) with the help of technical aid from the U. S. Bureau of Public Roajs, of financial aid from the U. S. Export-Import Bank and of supplier's credits from an Italian contractor. In 1950 there were less than 300 miles of road, mainly unsurfaced and in poor condition, Today there are nearly 1,700 miles of main and feeder road of which about 1,000 are alle-weather and about 200 miles are paved. The network is nevertheless a small one for the country's size and population. 12, The motor vehicle fleet has increased rapidly, with the development of ro~ ds, from 650 vehicles in 1950 to 1,450 in 1954, and perhaps 10,000 at present. Consumption of gasoline has increased by about 20 percent annually for the past five years. Buses, trucks, and passenger cars operate in all parts of the country. However, road traffic is highly concentrated in the Monrovia area, near the rubber plantations and around the mining complexes. 13. The construction of the road network has stimulated Liberiat. economic growth, Road transport serves essential purposes such as the carriage of produce, construction materials, and operating supplies for such undertakings as the Firestone aubber Plantation, the Liberian Mining Cormpany iron ore works at Bomi Hills, and the recently completed iron-ore development  # 3 " at Mount Nimba of Liberian-American Swedish Minerals Company (LAiMCO). Close to 100 percent of the export of palm kernels, coffee, cocoa, and piassava fiber is truck-hauled to port. Most of the output of rubber and latex is truck-hauled to a Firestone processing plant and then sent by barges down- river to port, 14. The present volume of over-the-road traffic cannot be definitely assessed because of lack of statistics. However it includes the bulk of Liberials imports totaling about 500,000 tons a year; about 0,O00-25,000 tons of export cocoa, coffee. piassava, and palm kernels; occasional exports of exotic hardwoods; about 401,000450,000 tons of rubber and latex en route to processing plant; and an indeterminate amount of local foodstuffs, materials and supplies. 15'a There are three railway lines - one from the Free Port of Monrovia to Bomi Hills, another from Bomi Hills to AIano River, and still another from Buchanan to Mount Nimba. Each is a heavy-duty line for carrying iron ore. River and coastal transport includes rubber carried to ocean freighters, supplies carried back to plantations, and some local trade. i60 The new roads have made large areas of Liberia accessible by moTor vehicles for, the first time. It was a trek of several weeks through bUngle only 5-10 years ago to reach productive areas in the western province 200-300 miles from HonroviaA Reaching the same areas today is a 6-8 hour drive by bus, truck or car, Districts wiihich now provide rice, palm oil, fruits and vegetables to M'onrovia and other population centers have begun to produce some food for market for the first time , and the production of rubber, cocoa, coffee, and other cash crops by independent farmers has increased considerably. Workers in plantations, towns, and mining districts are better fed as a result and cu.ti- vators are being supplied with some simple manufactures they never had before. III. THEE HIG TWAY SYSTEM A. Road Construction to Date 17. The Government has appropriated no funds for any part of the road development to date, Instead, all the road building of the past 10 years has been financed by external loans and by foreign supplier's credits. These loans and credits have been incurred for the full construction costs of the roads, not the axtebnil oest ccmponent alone, 18. The Exim-Bank has lent the Government US$16.2 million since 1951 in two separate loan operations. The proceeds were applied to construction or reconstruction of (a) a trunk road traversing the Northwest from Banka to Konjo (see Map); (b) an ancient road from i4onrovia to Gate 15 en route to the North; and (c) two new roads: Harper-Karloke-Webo in the extreme Southeast,  - 4 - and Ganta - (about 50 miles southeast of