North-West Frontier Province Urban Development Sector Project

The consultants under the loan were hired through quality- and cost-based selectio (QCBS). The staff remuneration in the bids was inadequate for good-quality staff. The level of effort and the skill set specified in the request for proposal (RFP) also did not match the complexity of the assignment. Similar issues encumbered the RFP for the nongovernment organizations (NGOs), allowing generally weak firms to submit bids that could not fully appreciate the tasks ahead. The terms of reference should adequately capture the complexity of the sector loans, and the RFP fro such loans should either be quality based or include a bid rejection option in case of underbidding in QCBS.