Announcement of Colombian Transport Survey Report on August 28, 1962

, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • IN'Tt:_RNATIONAL BANK FOR ECC)NSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMEr\JT 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, 0. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 SUBJECT: Colombian Transport Survey August 28, 1962 Report The Government of Colombia and the World Bank have announced the publi- cation of a Report on Colombia's transportation facilities. The Report was prepared by a Study Group jointly sponsored and financed by the Colombian Government and the Bank. The Report presents a 10-year plan for improvements in Colombian high- ways, railroads, inland waterways, seaports and airports of national signi- • ficance. It recommends priorities for investments in specific projects for the period 1962-1966, and more generally for the following five years. The Study was conducted by a group of experts in economics, engineering and transport, and was headed by the engineering firm of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas of New York, in collaboration with a Colombian-World Banlc steering committee. In the past decade Colombia has made tremendous investments in transport facilities, with highways receiving the larger share. The program has pro- vided the country with a network of basic all-weather roads which connect areas containing more than 90 pe!' cent of the population; it has also provided an integrated railroad network, and serviceable airports have been built throughout Colombia. The Report concludes that while serious transportation • bottlenecks, such as have appeared in other developing countries, are no longer evident in Colombia, existing facilities are still not adequate for either the present or future needs of the Colombian economy.  - 2 - In recommending improvements of some existing facilities and expansion of others, particularly highways and railroads, and substantial investment in maintenance services, the Study Group cautions that there are today other needs in Colombia -- in electric power, industry, agriculture, health, housing~ education and training, to which an increasing share of the country's resources must be devotede It therefore suggests a careful selection of transport invest- ment under a program restricted to present and clearly foreseeable needs in order to free resources for other purposes. According to the Report, the estimated investment required for transport- ation in the next dec~de is as fol10ws (expressed in millions of U.S. dollars): 1962-66 1967-71 Total Highways $202 $243 $445 Railroads 71 64 135 • Ocean Ports and Inland Waterways Airports 26 -1:2. $318 11 10 $328 ~ 37 $6~ HIGHWAYS~- The proposed long-range highway program includes 108 separate projects divided into three groups of priorities~ Group I consists of 37 projects with a total cost estimated at the equivalent of US$168.6 million, among them 14 now being financed with World Bank assistance, all to be pro~ gramed for completion by 1966. Groups II and III comprise 71 projects to be completed by 1971. The Study Group also recommends the creation of a National Highway Authority to administer the national highway program with complete control of operating funds, planning, programing, design, construction, opera- tion and maintenance of national highways. RAILROADSo- A major part of the investment program proposed for this • sector is for rehabilitation work as well as for the acquisition of equip- ment and rolling stock to keep railroads in operation and to pre v·ent rapid  - 3- • dett~riora tion i11 their capacity to handle traffic. The Report also recommends the extension of the Atlantic Railroad to Barranquilla and Cartagena, and suggests the necessary feasibility studies to be undertaken. INLAND WATERWAYS.- The Report recommendations include improvements in the existing inland ports of Puerto Berrio and Barrancabermeja, dredging of the Cienaga Can.31 and miscellaneous construction and other investment to be completed in the period 1962-65. OCEAN PORTS.- The program suggested by the Study Group includes rehabili- tation, purchase of new equipment and construction of new facilities in the ports of Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Buenaventura. AIRPORTS.:- The Report recommends expansion and improvement work at the existing international airports at Bogota (Eldorado), Cali and Medellin and • the completion of the new Barranquilla airport, all capable of handling jet planes. It also recommends improvement and expansion work at airports for medium-range planes. 14 regional COORDINATION AND PLANNING.- The Study Group suggests the creation of a National Transportation Planning Board, under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Public Works, for continued and coordinated transportation planning. The Board would be widely representative and would have the responsibility for the coordinated planning of all transportation sectors and the annual review of their proposed budgets. TRANSPORTATION FINANCING.- The Study Group found that the present charges to 1Jsers are inadequate and fall far short of covering the cost of opera ting and maintaining the various transport facilities. Present charges represent differing degrees of subsidy to the various users of highway, railroad and ~ river facilities and distort the pattern of use of these ofte~ competing  - 4- • faoilitieso The Report recommends establishment of a system of user charges which will pay the full cost of transportation facilities over the long run and will permit the most economic distribution of traffic among the various means. -000000- The report, entitled "Pl~n for Improvements in National Transportation", has been published in Bogota by the Ministry of Public Works. All inquiries regarding the Report should be addressed to the Departamento Administrative de Planeacion y Servicios Tecnicos, Banco Cafetero ~ Piao 3, Bogota, Colombia • • •