Provincial Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project

Only priority sites should be surveyed at project design. Identifying a short list, not a long list, of priority sites before PPTA starts is good practice. Frequently, executing agencies in Papua New Guinea (PNG) do not identify priority sites or undertake preliminary analysis, citing their lack of preparatory budgets or skills. This does not foster ownership and passes on responsibility to consultants. In this case, PPTA consultants were asked to survey 12 provincial towns, out of which only 2 were ultimately developed. Inadequate preparatory work was done prior to project approval, causing high cost overruns and the need for re-design during implementation. ADB did not have the capacity to verify results from so many sites. Commitment from citizens in the form of willingness to pay and from governments in the form of investment, maintenance, and protecting assets from vandalism should be regarded as a part of future Waterboard investment decisions. The Waterboard should require an enforceable contract with provincial governments prior to new town investments.