Pakse Urban Environmental Improvement Project

Counterpart funding arrangemnets need to be ascertained if doable in the local context. The project required the government and local communities to contribute 10% to the cost of construction of infrastructure improvements to build community ownership of the project facilities. However, the capacity of the local government and communities to contribute was limited to 4.7% and 1.8%, respectively. Delayed allocation and availability of counterpart funds for resettlement compensation caused delays during implementation. The proposed arrangements should have been thoroughly assessed prior to adoption. While strengthening ownership of project facilities is a worthwhile endeavor, assessment of the local government and communities’ willingness to pay, and affordability should have been done and used to inform project design