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Lesson
The first railway project is a good model for ADB to follow when starting a new program in a country. The first railway project was among the first projects that ADB financed in Uzbekistan. When ADB starts a new program in a country, government officials and others must learn about ADB’s policies, procedures, and requirements, including those regarding safeguards, anti-corruption, and procurement.

Project Number: 30457-016
Project Name: Railway Rehabilitation Project and Railway Modernization Project [Loans 1631/1773]
Report Date:
Lesson
Future projects should have an implementation consultant or a construction supervision consultant throughout project implementation. In each railway project, the monthly reports prepared by UTY did not discuss civil works in detail and lacked information, for example, on detailed designs and who developed them, the exact location of rehabilitated sites, and photographs showing progress. ADB’s limited oversight of civil works probably also contributed to resources being temporarily diverted to another project during implementation of the first project.

Project Number: 30457-015
Project Name: Railway Rehabilitation Project and Railway Modernization Project [Loans 1631/1773]
Report Date:
Lesson
Loan agreements for projects in Uzbekistan should include a covenant that will avoid unnecessary delays from the contract registration process of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment, and Trade. In each railway project, the ministry’s price verification during the contract registration process unnecessarily delayed procurement. Price verification aims to encourage renegotiation of bid prices when the ministry believes prices are too high.

Project Number: 30457-014
Project Name: Railway Rehabilitation Project and Railway Modernization Project [Loans 1631/1773]
Report Date:
Lesson
Before preparing projects for Central Asia or the Caucasus, ADB should determine if restricting procurement to ADB-member countries will significantly raise the cost of goods and services over unrestricted procurement. For the two railway projects, the least-cost source of rails was nonmember countries, and limiting procurement to ADB member countries raised the cost of rails by more than 150%.

Project Number: 30457-013
Project Name: Railway Rehabilitation Project and Railway Modernization Project [Loans 1631/1773]
Report Date:
Lesson
No new lessons

Project Number: 29567-013
Project Name: Road Rehabilitation Project [Loan 1657-UZB]
Report Date:
Lesson
The adequacy of security arrangements at project sites in Afghanistan determines the pace at which projects can be implemented. Ultimately, protecting construction crews and facilities and equipment storage areas will be feasible only if an effective grassroots outreach program is mounted to win the support and goodwill of communities who live near construction sites and secure the collaboration of local government officials and village leaders.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The annual hiatus in processing withdrawal applications by Ministry of Finance (MOF) for the 3-month budget approval period (end of the financial year on 21 March until the end of June) causes cash flow difficulties for the contractors and consultants, as this period coincides with the peak construction season. A streamlined coordination among MPW, MOF, and ADB should be developed to minimize the adverse impact on project progress and avoid interest claims on late payments.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The design-build contract adopted for this project is not a turnkey type of contract in which prospective bidders will need to conduct significant site reconnaissance in order to prepare competitive bids, but a measurement contract based on financial unit rates with design carried out by the contractor as the road is constructed. This type of contract was intended to overcome local design capacity constraints and expedite commencement of works.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
More effort should be made to gain compliance by the borrower and MPW with loan covenants, which helps strengthen the government's project ownership. Although difficult postwar conditions exist, ADB should use appropriate means including suspension of disbursements and cancellation of the loan if necessary and in the best interest of the project.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Afghanistan is a country with a long history of war, in which the usual rules do not work well in achieving development impacts. Appropriate adjustments, such as allowing procurement of bitumen from nonmember countries of ADB, proved to be beneficial for maximizing the project's development impact and economic efficiency.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The rapid turnover of the MPW staff, frequent changes in project officers and mission leaders, and the transfer of project administration from one ADB department to another were counterproductive.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Frequent replacement of the supervision consultants' key staff members should be avoided or penalized. Projects that suffer from key staffing issues usually experience compounding delaying effects and cost overruns during implementation.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Consultant quality at entrance is critical, as top international consultants and contractors are less interested in projects in Afghanistan. Emphasis during selection should be on quality and past performance record of consultants, as this can easily result in both cost and time savings, given the prevalence of price escalation, time extensions, and cost overruns for projects in Afghanistan.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important to conduct a sound capacity assessment of Ministry of Public Works (MPW) and adequate analysis of the local political context in the early stages of the project. Driven by the project's emergency nature, overemphasis on time savings during project preparation unfortunately resulted in delays coupled with cost overruns and implementation problems at a later stage. It is also highly desirable that emergency projects implemented in complex environments receive more frequent and comprehensive monitoring and supervision.

Project Number: 37075-013
Project Name: Andkhoy-Qaisar Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
ADB should be more proactive to ensure full compliance with the loan agreement and adherence to ADB procedures relating to procurement of goods and consulting services.

Project Number: 34160-023
Project Name: Education Sector Development Project
Report Date:
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