4.4.4 Road and Bridges Development
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relationto the damagecaused and use made of the roadsystem. A balanced approachis needed,including assessment ol the willingnessond ability to pay of road usercond oI the implicdtionsof using other sourcesof revenue to Iinanceroads. A risein fuelprices of 10 percentwill increasethe costof travelby publictransport, for example,by about3 percent.The needto improvethe levelof cost-recoveryis not urgentgiven the otherissues facing the Government,though some refinement of currentcharges may improve theirequity. Theretail price of fuelin Timor-Lesteis not highby internationalstandards. However,it is highgiven the low levelof fuel tax (e.g.see pacific lslands ForumSecretariat 2004). Consideration will be givento meansfor reducing the costof importedfuel to a levelcomparable to countriessimilarly situated to Timor-Leste.Introducing an off-settingfuel tax couldraise additional revenueto the Governmentof aboutS1.5 million per annum.An annual vehicleregistration fee of Sf00 per vehicleplus an administrativecharge couldgenerate net revenue to theGovernment of 51million per annum. 4.4.4 Roadand Bridges Development L. Overview Roadsprovide access to ruralTimor-Leste, where the majorityof the poor live.They link rural communities to markets,to servicesand to participation in the widersociety. Urban roads sustain important commercial, industrial andservice activities in towns.Timor-Leste has an extensiveroad network, but it is.in poorcondition. The roadnetwork is stronglyinfluenced by its spatialand physical environment. A mainarterial road runs along the semi- aridnorthern coast, serving the economicactivity around Dili and along the coast.Connections with the southerneconomic zone cross a mounratnous andmidland area, which includes steep lands of unstablerock and poor soils that are highlysusceptible to erosionand landslides.The southern coastal zone,which has higherpopulation density, agricultural production and energyreserves, has a moisterclimate and comprises alluvial formations and numerousrivers which aggrades and are prone to changingcourse during the monsoonrain period. RepAblico Democraticd De Timor-Leste Thenetwork is thus vulnerableto naturalhazards of erosionand flooding, andaccess is frequently cut at highrisk locations during the wet season.The terrainand low standard of roadslimit the support provided to the economy in the southand midlands,such as coffee and agriculture, and soon energy sources.About 80 percentof the coreroad network is paved.There are about 317 bridgeson the nationalroad network,with an averagelength of 34 meters.Half of the bridgesare less than 10meters in length.While the road networkis extensive,road standardsare generallypoor. Pavementsare generallynarrow (3.5 to 5.5 meters)and requirevehicles to moveoff the pavementto pass other vehicles.Ver:tical and horizontalalignments commonlylimit sight distance, restricting tiavel speeds, reducing the ability to overtake,and increasingthe risk of accidents.Inadequate drainage exacerbatesroad damage. Expenditureon roadsup to about2003 necessarily focused on maintaininga basiclevel of accessibilityin Timor-Leste,especially on nationalroads, and therefore comprisedbasic maintenanceand emergencyworks. This emergencyphase is now completed.Until the end of the fiscalyear of 2OO4/5,the qmountof costspent is 571.3milliqn with S43.9million from grantsand 527.4 million from CFET(consolidated Fund for EastTimor). The useof 530.3million of the TFET(Trust Fund for EastTimor) was directed at the EIRP(Emergency Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project) which is a national and districtroad rehabilitationproject. Funds were also used for the rehabilitationof 355 rural roadsamounting to 1445 km, with 1000 km finish ed. The projectwas done by the CEP(Community Empowerment Project) in a sub-districtauthority. The JapanEngineering Group (JEG)has cleaned landslidesand fixed severalroads with a cost of 53 millionwhich is not includedin the CFET,TFET or any bilateralprograms. The Japanese governmenthas given the assistanceof 519.7million for the improvementof the Dili- Cassaroad, and 54.6 million for buildings,training, and advisory to the Ministryof PublicWorks. The Road Sector Improvement Project (Asian DevelopmentBank) is a S10and 52.5 million as grant to the government. EuropeanUnion for roadsrehabilitation (57.6 million), rural roads western district53.3 million and asgrant S0.3 million. Almost all projects are done in the fiscalvear oI 2006/7. Rep(tblicaDemocrotico De Timor-Leste Accordingto a datasurvey by the ADB,the wholeroad network amounts to morethan 6.000km. TableL showsthe Timor-Lesteroad network length accordingto district,while the existingroad network map canbe seenin Figure1. Current efforts for bothrehabilitation and maintenance are focusing on the core networkand urbanroads. Thereis a neednow to start addressingthe accessrequirements in rural areas, and to furtherdevelop the fundingand maintenance arrangements for theseroads. Repiblica Democrdtico De Timor-Leste Figure4.13 - ExistingRoad Network 2. RoadNetwork Condition a) The averagewidth of surfacepavement of nationaland regionalroads are 3.5 to 5.5 meters(to narrow by internationalstandards), vertical and horizontalalignment do not meetthe standardswhile construction of roadsides and drainage is poor (seeTable 4) b) Thereare approximately 317 bridges with an averagespan of 34m c) The conditionof nationalroads is estimatedto be 80% damaged(ln Searchof Prosperity- Removingthe Constraintsto Growth in Timor- Leste", 2008) d) Thecondition of districtroads is estimated to 90%damaged e) Mostroads are impassable during the rain f) Roadswith asphaltpaving is estimatedto amountto 25% of the nationaland districts roads c) Unfavourablegeographical conditions exist in the centreof the island. Landsare mountainous with a highslope. There are also many rivers. Manyroads are built parallel to the beachor nearthe mouthof rivers. Floodare apparentin the rainyseason and is often accompaniedby muo Repiblico Democraticd De Timor-Leste h) Thelevel of trafficaccidents in the cityof Dilican be categorizedas high Table4.39 - RoadSurface TYPe Asphalt - C""a.t" Atplt"tt 564 4oyo O Oyo 564 25o/o - surface zlq szy" 502 62Vo 7.236 56% Maintenance Non-Asohalt o oo/" 109 1.3% L09 5% - Earth 108 \yoaYo zu.l2or 25% 309 14% So*c"; t"*nXA working Paper- ctober2006, The Louis Berger Group' lnc 3. OngoingPrograms a) Rehabilitationof severalkey points in the nationalroad network b) Settingup the "RoadFund", which is fundedby the MCC(Millennium ChallengeCorporate), preparation of a maintenancefund, which is also a contingencyfund; approximately 560 million. c) Roadtechnical assistance on Rightof Way (ROW)for the wideningof nationalroads and a costestimation of landacquisition; approximately 540million. d) Technical and equipment assistancefor the development and regulationof roadsand transportation; 55 million' e) Scholarshipsfor the educationof RoadEngineers, Designers, Project Managers,Construction Managers andTransport Economics; estimated at 520million. f) Bloengineeringis prepared for the conservationand sustainabilityof naturalresources; 528 million. 4. Problemsand Constraints a) Highinvestment and maintenancecosts while funding is limited b) Highneed for raw materialsand man power to buildroad networks Rep I bli co Dem ocrati co De Tim or- Leste c) Lackof a masterplan for alltransportations d) Transportationaccess does not coverthe wholeof Timor-Leste,with the effectof limitedaccess in severalareas Almosthalf of allasohalt roads are considered to bein Doorcondition 0 Theexisting asphalt road are not sufficientdue to the lackof a Rightof Wavarea standard g) A wavymorphology and geology is unfavourablefor the rehabilitation of existingroads and the development of newroads h) Lackof regulationsfor roadsafety, road clarification system, road axis limitsand land acquisition. i) Lackof humanresources to manageroad and bridge networks TheGovernment therefore has set a 10-yearvision for the roadsystem to: a) Bring the road network up to a sustainablecondition where, with regularmaintenancer life-cycle transport costs will be minimized,road clgsureswill be reducedand manageable,and road accesswill be reliable. b) lmprovekey roads to supporta growingeconomy. DevelopGovernment capacity to effectivelyand efficientlymanage the roadsystem. Sixprinciples will guidefuture Government spending on roads: a) Prioritywill be givento maintainingcurrent roads before expenditure that increasesthe quantityof roadassets and associatedmaintenance oblieations. b) Prioritywill be givento maintainingthe core road network,i.e. roads that servemaior economic and administrative functions. c) In-kindcommunity contribution will be soughtfor maintenanceof the non-coreroad network. Replblico Democratico De Timor-Leste d) Investmentwill be focusedon projectsthat providenet economic benefitsin termsof reducedroad maintenance and vehicle operating costsor supportagricultural and industrialdevelopments that are worthwhilewhen account is taken of thecost of roadinvestment. e) Wherecost-effective, the privatesector will be usedto implementroad maintenanceand developmentworks, to both minimizecosts and to developa competentand efficient domestic contracting industry. 0 Roadusers will, over time, be expectedto makea greatercontribution to the costof providingroads. Developmentof roadinfrastructure isnow divided into these programs a) Programfor AcceleratedNational Development (pfAND) b) EvaluatedPriority Road Program - District Roads c) OtherCore Network Road lmprovements d) RoadDevelopment