64472 September 2011 · Number 3 January 2011·Number 77

By Jean-Charles Crochet if implemented, would further strengthen the performance of the road sector, thereby Background. Yemen should be credited for increasing its contribution to the national achieving an ambitious road building program economy and the alleviation of poverty. This over the last 25 years, and establishing a large short note summarizes the findings and primary road network given its level of GDP recommendations of the full strategy note (see and population size. With the condition of 60 footnote link). percent of the paved network rated good or very good, Yemen’s road network appears Main Sector Challenges better than in most comparator countries. This positive feature allows the country to satisfy The current balance of expenditures among economically its relatively high demand for various types of roads and categories of road transport evidenced by its substantial expenditures is not economically optimal. The vehicle fleet and traffic volumes on the arterial annual allocation of funds for road network. Yet, the country’s inhabitable deserts, maintenance is insufficient and far below what mountainous terrain, and population location most other countries similar to Yemen spend on patterns still give rise to high transport costs such maintenance. By deferring maintenance and leave many small communities isolated on over many years a back log of works develops mountain ridges or in remote valleys. The poor that will eventually be much more costly to access to markets, employment, and services in address the longer it is postponed. Also, many areas pose a serious challenge to expenditures are probably too high on urban economic and social development. roads but could usefully be increased for secondary and rural roads. In addition, certain The full Road Sector Strategy Note1 takes stock types of “high payback” expenditures, such as of recent developments in the sector and climbing lanes on high traffic roads are not focuses on performance. It takes into account included in road budgets while some low studies prepared for the Government and the returns projects are contemplated. Finally, too rich dialogue between Government officials many projects are being implemented at the and Bank missions over the past few years. same time, compared to the availability of Based on this, key issues are identified and funds for roads and to staff limitations. There recommendations are made on a sector wide, are more than 750 projects being executed by short to medium term, Agenda for Reform which, MPWH, more than half of which are urban road projects. 1 This Note is a summary of a Road Sector Strategy Note for Yemen dated August 2010. The report was prepared by Mr. Although MPWH is fully in charge of the Jean-Charles Crochet (Senior Transport Economist and TaskTeam Leader), Mr. Terje Wolden (Senior Highway sector, with impressive institutional progress in Engineer), and Ms. Lamis Aljounaidi (Infrastructure the past few years, there is still a high Economist), following missions in Yemen in 2008 and 2009. fragmentation of roles and responsibilities in projects. There is also too much reliance on the sector and some units key for the sector variation orders, which lack transparency and such as those in charge of planning, laboratory, make program management and monitoring and research, are outside the responsibility of difficult. Lack of predictable price adjustments, the Road Sector. The role of the Road advance payments, and other weaknesses in Maintenance Fund (RMF) is also too broad past local forms of contract as well as slow while the capabilities of the Rural Access payments have also increased costs and Program Central Management Office inhibited the development of contractors. (RAPCMO) could be used more extensively. Finally, for many years, there have been difficulties in bringing contracts to closure as Although there has been progress in the past well as terminating non performing contracts. few years, road planning, programming and The Yemeni road construction and maintenance budgeting is still weak and budget processes industry is young and fragile. It includes many undeveloped. There are multiple, often small contractors each with limited capacity fragmented, plans and programs but not yet a and capabilities and only very few large private single well accepted strategy document for the contractors with adequate capacity. Public road sector, although MPWH is keen to produce one. construction corporations have played a A medium term expenditure framework is not dominant role in the sector for a long time and yet in place. Until recently, there was no road their future may need to be clarified. planning unit in the Road Sector Department. Weaknesses in contracts and contract The sector data base, although greatly management, as highlighted above, as well as improved, still needs development. Finally the issues with the price and availability of key lack of a functional road classification makes materials such as bitumen, have constrained planning and monitoring difficult. development of the industry.

Weaknesses in road design have negatively The local road consulting industry is at an affected in the past the economy of projects as early stage of development. Its growth has been well as project implementation and quality hampered by reliance on in-house services by assurance. This is compounded by insufficient Government for design and supervision. The capacity in MPWH for design review and lack of a steady and substantial stream of work, guidance to consultants and contractors on and, perhaps, insufficient opportunities for desirable design changes and by inadequate partnership between foreign and local firms, monitoring and evaluation of the projects’ have also prevented faster development. technical aspects. There has also been a reluctance to vary the technical standards of Despite recent efforts, monitoring and roads depending on the type and location of the evaluation of road sector performance is still road, its function and traffic volume. Road weak. The availability and reliability of data standards on urban road projects are often needs improvement. Consultation mechanisms excessive. Better methods and construction also need to be developed with all sector practices are also slow to be adopted. stakeholders.

Despite great progress recently regarding There is a serious shortage of capacity and procurement, contracts, and supervision, some skills in all institutions and firms involved in key weaknesses remain. First, there is the the sector (including MPWH as well as legacy of past contracts with inadequate contractors and consultants), and there are contract forms and technical requirements. staffing imbalances among Government units. Inadequate follow-up of contractors in the past is still affecting quality of works and With almost 3,000 persons killed every year in implementation progress on locally funded traffic accidents, road safety is exceptionally September 2011 · Number 3 · 2 poor in Yemen. There is, however, a sound set- Improve the quality of public expenditure up for traffic safety enforcement but no national programs for the road sector: road safety strategy and no national unit clearly in charge and capable of carrying out the  Overall sector funding should remain monitoring/evaluation of traffic safety substantial, at least above 1% to 1.5% of activities. GNP.  Funding for routine and periodic Current policies and lack of enforcement of maintenance should be increased axle load limits for trucks causes excessive substantially and, in particular, periodic wear and tear with a high long term cost for the maintenance should be promoted road network. vigorously. The RMF budget should increase from YR 4 billion to at least YR 10 The road sector has been highly subsidized in billion over the next three years and reach Yemen for many years. Because of the very low about YR 15 billion over the medium term. price of gasoline and diesel and insufficient  Funding for road rehabilitation and low specific taxation of road use, as of the end of cost/high returns upgrading should be 2009 road users were not paying for the increased as already recommended in the marginal cost of road infrastructure use, as they National Highway Master Plan. should, and their operations were subsidized.  The funding for urban main roads through MPWH should be reduced substantially. There is a clear link between roads  The focus should be on projects with high infrastructure and enhancement of women's economic and social rates of return and the lives. Wherever a good road is available, basic start of premature projects, such as the goods (drinkable water, food) are more proposed new Amran – Aden motorway, available and cheaper, which gives time to should be postponed. women for commercial activities. The existence  The road budget should be rationalized by of a road also makes it easier for women to cancelling non-performing projects and access markets where they can find basic concentrating funding for MPWH’s locally materials and inputs as well as shops to sell funded projects on economic and well their products to. Moreover, when a girls’ performing contracts. school served by a safe road exists, daughters  An integrated road sector strategy should are encouraged to attend school. be prepared taking full account of financial constraints. This work would include in The report recognizes that strong political particular: (i) updating the National commitment and good leadership is critical in Highway Master Plan, and (ii) preparing a addressing such issues and gives the Ministry national strategy for secondary and rural of Public Works and Highways credit for recent roads based on realistic estimates of changes in policies and improvements in sector available funding under a medium term performance. expenditure framework.  The existing feasibility studies of large An Agenda for Reform projects should be updated.  Multimodal urban transport master plans The report finds that there is much that can be should be prepared for the larger cities as a done in the short to medium term to improve basis, among other goals, for the the performance of the road sector in Yemen. justification of new urban road construction Below, the main recommendations have been projects by MPWH summarized under three main directions for Government action: Develop the institutional framework and capability for road sector management: September 2011 · Number 3 · 3 consulting industries should be established  The sector’s overall organization should within the RS. An assessment of work load evolve gradually from the current one to and staff needs and organizational one more in line with international best structure with job descriptions is needed. practices. For the time being, however, the The management information system sector should remain organized around the should be well developed. four main existing units (the Road Sector  The mission of the RMF should be clarified: Department, RMF, RAPCMO, and the it should focus on preventive routine and Foreign Funded Project Management Unit). periodic maintenance and not be involved Each of them would be developed and in road upgrading/rehabilitation. improved as recommended below. The Performance based maintenance contracts clarity of each unit’s mission and should be generalized when current pilots accountability, the adequacy of resources, have made progress and a good approach and the need to optimize the use of heavily has been identified. Hybrid “term constrained manpower should be the main maintenance” contracts should also be institutional objectives. In this context, the considered. Knowledge of the road Government should proceed cautiously network conditions and assessment of with decentralization. Whenever feasible, maintenance needs should be improved. however, project implementation should be The use of consultants for design and managed by units that are located in the supervision should be maximized, and field and cover several governorates, in manuals for routine and periodic order to facilitate supervision as well as maintenance should be established. An consultations and coordination with local assessment of work load and staff needs is authorities. desirable.  The organization principles and the rights  The FFPMU should clearly be in charge of and duties of all stakeholders in the road all aspects of foreign funded projects from sector should be clarified by a new road design to contract management and be law and its implementing regulations, both organized, staffed and resourced to be drafted urgently. This law should accordingly. include a classification of all roads and, for  RAPCMO’s organizational structure should each category of roads, designate be revised and staff needs reassessed to ownership, management responsibilities, take account of its much larger workload financing arrangements and responsibilities and implementation challenges. The need for maintenance management and for de-concentration of RAPCMO should financing. be assessed in this respect. A sustainable  The Road Sector Department (RS) should system should be established to provide assume full responsibility under the uninterrupted adequate funding for Minister’s oversight for road sector policy RAPCMO’s operations independent of and planning and for defining expenditure donors. priorities including annual budgets for the  A strategy for strengthening Yemen’s road sector. Procedures and technical and construction and maintenance industry operational manuals should be prepared should be put in place as a matter of for design, procurement, and supervision priority, based on the assessment of the reflecting international best practices. The industry planned under the Second Rural Quality Control Unit’s role should be Access Project. As shown by the experience defined more precisely. A road planning of other countries, most progress in the unit as well as other small units to deal industry will come from the establishment with road standards, technology and of rules, procedures, and practices for research, and the road construction and selection and supervision of contractors September 2011 · Number 3 · 4 and for contract management, which are the entire sector. The strategy would fair, steady, predictable, and well include, in particular, a medium term understood by all parties. Current training plan, the improvement of existing problems regarding the price and engineering programs in Yemeni availability of key materials such as universities, and a continuous education bitumen and cement should be addressed. program for high level government staff, The creation of a Yemeni association of and a plan for improving in a sustainable road contractors should be promoted and way the salary level and other benefits for effective communication channels should Government staff in the sector also be put in place between the Government and the construction industry. Correct present inefficiencies in the use of the The contractor classification system should road network: be used to weed out poorly performing and non professional contractors. Finally, the  A road safety management capacity commercialization of Government assessment should be carried out as a first corporations should be considered (setting step in addressing the poor traffic safety them up as business units independent of situation. On this basis, a comprehensive the Government) as a first step before national road safety strategy should be privatization. prepared including in particular the  A strategy should also be put in place for designation and strengthening of a central strengthening Yemen’s consulting coordination and management road safety profession in the field of road studies and unit to spearhead and monitor the road engineering. This would include implementation of the strategy. There is outsourcing Government work to local also a need to start using traffic safety consultants whenever feasible, ensuring inspection/audits on existing road corridors that there is in the long term a regular and as a way of identifying key safety predictable demand for consultants’ improvement measures. services in the road sector, using  Enforcing the current axle load limits is partnerships between foreign specialists overdue. Several actions would have to be and local consultants to develop the taken in concert to introduce effective axle industry (with training and mentoring load controls: implementation of an obligations to benefit Yemeni consultants), awareness campaign in cooperation with ensuring fair treatment of consultants, and traffic police, the truckers’ association, and including local consultants in Government MPWH; purchase of mobile equipment for training programs. random controls of axle loads; and  The Information Technology Directorate of expansion of the number of permanent axle MPWH should be the leading unit for load stations on the key road corridors. sector monitoring. It should be  Public costs generated by road use should strengthened and provided with adequate be paid by the users. The main way to staff, resources and equipment to carry out achieve this objective is through steady its functions fully. Measures should also be increases in the price of gasoline and diesel, taken to systematically produce and which eventually should cover not only the disseminate information on the sector and full cost of providing fuel at the pump but its performance, and consult stakeholders. also the cost of providing the road This includes in particular road user infrastructure as well as the cost of satisfaction surveys. externalities generated by road use.  An assessment of skills needed and a  The positive impact which roads have on human resources development strategy women’s economic activities and on girls’ should be prepared as soon as possible for access to education is a major argument for September 2011 · Number 3 · 5 expanding rapidly the all weather rural roads network. Since women, as well as children, mainly use the roads for walking, often in groups, rural roads’ design should take into account the special needs of pedestrians. To enhance mobility for both men and women, the Government should also ensure that public transport services are available that link villages to the major services centers and markets, with reliable schedules and adequate information provided to the population.

Contact MNA K&L: Director, MNACS: Laura Tuck

Regional Knowledge and Learning Team: Omer Karasapan Roby Fields, Rory O’Sullivan Tel #: (202) 473 8177 MNA Knowledge Notes: http://mnaknotes

The MNA Knowledge Notes are intended to summarize lessons learned from MNA and other Bank Knowledge and Learning activities. The Notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, its board or its member countries. §

September 2011 · Number 3 · 6