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Lesson
Regarding use of the RMF (road maintenance fund), while the funding base for the RMF is broadening and annual expenditure allocations increasing, the fund is now spending only part of its income on maintenance and the amount for routine maintenance is relatively small. The RMF is not independent from the government budget system, and in 2014 - 2015 only 89% of fuel levy revenue is budgeted to be spent. This raises potential concern as to the future sustainability of the overall road maintenance.

Project Number: 41656-012
Project Name: Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Another important lesson learned from the project was that the use of a 6-year implementation period and design - construct contracts for the civil works packages was successful in addressing implementation delays that have occurred in previous road projects in the Lao PDR. The reasons for this success are (i) consultants can review contractors' designs easily and maintain the quality of design, and (ii) design - construct contracts can shorten the implementation period.

Project Number: 41656-012
Project Name: Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Project implementation delays in the civil works for contract R4-1 (Xieng-Ngeun - Pak Khone) were caused by a non-performing contractor, requiring the reallocation of part of the civil works to the performing contractor for contract R4-3 (Nam Pui Bridge - Paklay Bridge) to expedite and complete works in a timely manner. The lesson learned from this is that the executing agencies of future projects need to identify and replace non-performing contractors at an early stage and replace them with performing contractors.

Project Number: 41656-012
Project Name: Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The project demonstrated that the upgrading of national roads that connect the poorer districts of the Lao PDR is a viable means of addressing accessibility to markets and services for poor rural districts. The project provides an important link in the GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion) transport corridors connecting northern Thailand, northern Viet Nam, and the southern provinces of the PRC (People's Republic of China).

Project Number: 41656-012
Project Name: Northern Greater Mekong Subregion Transport Network Improvement Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Uzavtoyul to implement RAMS (road asset management system) directly. Future RAMS components should be implemented directly by the end user Uzavtoyul rather than through the PMU (project management unit) to ensure better coordination between the consultant and the end user. This implementation strategy will maximize long-term sustainability and provide the end user with full planning and implementation control and ownership of the outcomes.

Project Number: 42107-023
Project Name: CAREC Corridor 2 Road Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
Maximizing gender benefits. The gender training subcomponent, which benefited from the synergy with RETA (regional technical assistance) 7563 grant, showed overwhelmingly successful results achieving extensive gender benefits. This included improved community knowledge of basic health, sanitation, and reproductive health by providing facilities and improving mobility; and group formation and development of livelihood skills for local women through training a selected group of Sarimoy women in business skills development.

Project Number: 42107-023
Project Name: CAREC Corridor 2 Road Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
Realistic estimation of project and contract duration. In future, project schedules should carefully take into account (a) actual construction period available in a year considering the potential inclement weather conditions; (b) delays in contractor mobilization; (c) longer-than- expected time spent by government agencies in procurement matters due to their limited capacity or lengthy internal approval procedures; and (d) possible flaws in the initial designs that may require additional surveys and increase the scope of the contract.

Project Number: 42107-023
Project Name: CAREC Corridor 2 Road Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
Integrated projects planning for economic corridors and regional economic impacts. The newly built 50 km section of the A380 highway is located along CAREC (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation) Corridor 2 which has two border-crossing points (i) Termez at the Afghanistan border and (ii) Daut-ata at the Kazakhstan border. The remaining sections of the A380 highway are being improved under ongoing projects and future projects planned by the government.

Project Number: 42107-023
Project Name: CAREC Corridor 2 Road Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
Regular assignment of the PIU's (project implementation unit's) representatives at the project sites. For future projects, it is recommended that the PIU assign a representative to the project site to monitor the civil works progress closely with the construction supervision consultants, which will help the PIU identify issues at early stage and take prompt actions for resolution.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Higher ADB financing for civil works components. The project completion review mission noted that ADB financing for these components was only 2.8% of the total civil works costs, against 14.9% at appraisal. This is rather marginal compared to the resources spent administering the project. For efficient use of ADB resources, ADB financing of civil works should be at least 50% of project costs for projects of this size. It is noted that for other components, ADB financing was 100%, which helped to resolve the disputes efficiently.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Need for minimizing staff turnover in the executing agency during implementation. The PIU's (project implementation unit's) project director was changed frequently affecting the project management efficiency. Such frequent changes of the project director should be minimized.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Need for careful assessment of project management and construction supervision consultant's qualification. The PMCS (project management and construction supervision) consultant's performance was found to be generally satisfactory. However, the team leader was replaced three times during implementation, which affected the progress of civil works. In future, CVs (curriculum vitae) of the candidates should be assessed carefully to ensure highly qualified and experienced experts are selected, with a preference for permanent staff of the consulting firm.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Need for timely taking over of completed project sections by the government. At completion, the taking over of section 1 by Uzavtoyul was delayed due to administrative problems within the government. This contributed to poor maintenance after the defects liability period. This issue was resolved in 2014. Future taking over of completed road sections needs to be conducted in a timely manner by the government.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Need for including all related works in the scope of work for civil works contractors. For the road development component, earthworks and the construction of the subbase were excluded from scope of work of the international contractors. This reduced the efficiency of the construction works, because the national contractors were unable to complete works of acceptable quality as designed and it took considerable time to rectify the defects. These works should have been integrated within the overall scope of the civil works.

Project Number: 39669-013
Project Name: CAREC Regional Road Project
Report Date:
Lesson
Imprest accounts. The project received financing from various sources at different time intervals through grant agreements 0175, 0176, 0177, 0207, 0210 and recipient's contribution through government annual budget and the NTF (National Transport Fund). The disbursement of funds was carried out through direct payment and reimbursement procedures by maintaining three first generation and five second generation accounts.

Project Number: 43381-012
Project Name: Second Road Improvement (Sector) Project
Report Date: