Announcement of IDA Assists Transport Project in Haiti to Benefit 900,000 People on May 22, 1978

. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 78/73 MAY 22, 1978 IDA ASSISTS TRANSPORT PROJECT IN HAITI TO BENEFIT 900 1 000 PEOPLE The International Development Association (IDA) has approved a $15 mil- lion credit to help finance a transport project in Haiti to·benefit about 900,000 people, mostly low-income rural inhabitants. IDA is the World Bank's affiliate which provides loans on concessionary terms to the poorest developing countries. The project will help achieve a better balance between road transport and coastal shipping, overcome the isolation of outlying areas, and foster regional economic activity. The total cost of the project is estimated at about $20.5 mill ion. The project will improve secondary roads totaling 67 kilometers in the • Northern Plain and the Southwest regions, 1 inking areas of agricultural activity to regional centers. It will also reconstruct two major bridges that serve as gateways to the northwest and northeast of the country. The project will include the improvement of three coastal shipping ports at Port-au-Prince, Jeremie, and Port-de-Paix, as an initial step to develop more fully the potential of coastal shipping. About soo.ooo small- and medium-scale farmers and rural inhabitants 1 iving in an area where agriculture is the leading economic activity will benefit from improved road transport, while about 400,000 people in the Jeremie and the Port-de-Paix regions will benefit from better port facilities. The $15 mill ion IDA credit to the Republic of Haiti will have the standard IDA terms of 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It will bear no interest but an annual service fee of 0.75% to cover administrative expenses. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T ECHNI CAL D A T A. PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Fifth Transport Haiti $20.5 million • I DA FI NANC ING : $15 million, standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: Government of Haiti, $5.5 million IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: 1) For the road and bridge component: Secretajrerie des Travaux Publics, des Transports et des Communications (TPTC), Port-au-Princei Haiti 2) For the coastal shipping port component: Autorite Portuaire Nationale (APN), P.O. Box 616, Port-au-Prince~ Haiti PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It includes: (i) Road and bridge component: reconstruction or upgrading of five sections of roads in the Northern Plain totaling about 54 km and of about 13 km in the Southwest; construction of new bridges to replace the Hyppolite and Trois Rivieres bridges; (ii) coastal shipping ports component: construction of coastal shipping port facilities at Port-au-Prince, Jeremie and Port-de-Paix; and (iii) preinvestment studies of high priority projects in the ~ transport sector. PROCUREMENT: Civil works construction for roads, bridges and coastal shipping ports will be awarded through international competitive bidding after prequalification of firms in accordance with IDA guidelines. For bidd~ng purposes, the road and bridge works will be divided into four lots. There will be a single contract for all three ports. Local bidders will be allowed a pre- ference margin of 7.5% on bid evaluation. CONSULTANTS: A total of 485 man-months of consulting services are included in the project for detailed engineering and construction superv1s1on, for management assistance to APN for studies to prepare a bridge rehabil i- tation and replacement program,and for the development of future coastal shipping and ports. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: 21% ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1981 - 0 - •