ENDLESS ROADS Delays in completion of construction of National Roads Prishtina - Peja and Prishtina - Mitrovica 2019 DELAYS IN COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL ROADS PRISHTINA - PEJA AND PRISHTINA - MITROVICA Katalogimi në botim – (CIP) Biblioteka Kombëtare e Kosovës “Pjetër Bogdani” 6625.7(496.51) Fjolla Uka Endless roads : delays in completion of construction of National Roads Prishtina - Peja and Prishtina. - Mitrovica / Fjolla Uka. - Prishtinë : Instituti Demokratik i Kosovës, 2019. - 24 f. : ilustr. ; 21 cm. ISBN 978-9951-745-28-4 ENDLESS ROADS ENDLESS ROADS Delays in completion of construction of National Roads Prishtina - Peja and Prishtina - Mitrovica 2019 Author: Fjolla Uka COPYRIGHT © 2019. Kosova Democratic Institute (KDI). The Kosovo Democratic Institute has all rights reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying or any other system of preservation and extraction of materials, without the written permission of the publisher. Publication may be reproduced or transmitted only if used for non-commercial purposes. Whenever different citations or materials of this publication are used and anyone that uses them is obliged to make clear the source where those citations or materials used have been taken. For any rating, comment, criticism or suggestion, please contact us through the options provided below: Address: Str. Bajram Kelmendi, No. 45, 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo. Tel.: +381 (0)38 248 038 Email: [email protected] Web: www.kdi-kosova.org Author: Fjolla Uka The publication of this report was made possible with the support of the British Embassy in Pristina. The content of this report is the responsibility of the Kosovo Democratic Institute and can in no way be considered as the position of the British Embassy in Pristina. Executive summary .................................... 6 Methodology and transparency ............... 8 Prishtina – Peja road (N9) .........................10 Prishtina – Mitrovica road (N2) .................14 Why do expropriations“delay” projects? 18 Conclusion ..................................................19 Recommendations ....................................20 TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE DELAYS IN COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL ROADS PRISHTINA - PEJA AND PRISHTINA - MITROVICA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Contract management is the most challenging and the In 2009, a road strategy and action plan3 was drafted, which least monitored section of public procurement. This fact included analysis of potential road investments and a devel- is also mentioned in the recent European Commission Re- opment program for the next 20 years, based on previous port on Kosovo.1 studies. The plan contains a proposal list of potential projects where intervention is needed in order to improve the existing Kosovar taxpayers are constantly witnessing prolonged and road network connectivity. In the list of projects in this plan poor quality public projects. Consequently, the public has nev- were also the sections that are part of the roads Prishtina - er been informed whether any economic operator was ever Peja and Prishtina - Mitrovica. Except for this document, KDI penalized for negligence, or any official penalized for failing could not secure any specific document in the form of a master to perform their official duties effectively. This highlights the plan (a broader project plan as a whole that would include de- lack of transparency of institutions, specifically in relation to tails of the starting and finishing period of the works including project delays, but also in the management of public contracts the cost for each road segment separately and for the entire in general. project as a whole) developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure in regards to these two projects. The prolongation of works on two major projects under the supervision of the Ministry of Infrastructure, namely the ex- Most of the work under these two projects was completed pansion of the Prishtina - Peja and Prishtina - Mitrovica Roads beyond the defined deadline. The Ministry of Infrastructure are a prime example of this problem. The expansion of these has proceeded with road construction works parallel to the two roads of national interest began in 2007, and 12 years later expropriation process, and has thus allowed problems with both are unfinished. expropriation result in severe stagnation in the works. The main reason for the prolongation of works in these two According to KDI’s information, there is only one case where projects is the expropriation of private property. However, other the Ministry of Infrastructure has terminated a contract con- reasons should not be overlooked in this context, such as: fi- cluded with a contracting company, as a punitive measure for nancial conditions (projects were developed only when budget delay of works. On the other hand, because of its failure to pro- was allocated), technical challenges in implementing projects, vide proper working conditions to the construction companies, such as deficiencies in project design and expropriation pro- the Ministry of Infrastructure was in risk of being sued by these cess, resulting in additional works than originally contracted, companies for additional costs (e.g. labour salaries), and lost as well as residents’ demands for changes in projects and the profits because of the impossibility to operate in accordance lack of professionalism within companies engaged in road with the deadlines set out in the contract. KDI has only been construction. 2 made aware of one case, in which a company sued the Min- istry for additional costs as a result of failing to secure proper The citizens are the ones who suffered the consequences of working conditions. these delays. The number of citizens who frequent these roads on a daily basis is high. For 12 years, they have faced the long The phenomenon of annex contracts has been largely present traffic queues and roads under construction, what translates during the development of these projects due to the need for into financial costs and waste of the most valuable resource additional unplanned work. KDI came across many letters sub- - time. mitted to the Ministry by construction companies claiming to have found deficiencies in projects/measurement submitted 1 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20190529-kosovo-report.pdf fq.64 2 https://www.botasot.info/kosova/499135/zharku-rruget-rajonale-te-sterzgjatura-do-te-perfundojne-ne-2016 3 http://www.kryeministri-ks.net/repository/docs/Strategjia_multimodale_e_transportit_dhe_Plani_i_Veprimit.pdf ENDLESS ROADS by the Ministry and requesting from the Ministry4 the approv- The Ministry of al of additional works than those envisaged. Such finding is also part of the 2018 Audit Report, which recommended that Infrastructure has accurate measurements should be made prior to project de- proceeded with sign so that there would be no need to redo a project and/or road construction perform additional work.5 The high need for annex contracts is an indication of the inaccuracy and unprofessionalism of the works parallel to companies engaged by the Ministry in advance to design the the expropriation project. On the other hand, this may raise suspicions for ma- nipulations by intending to take advantage of the provision that process, and has thus allows conclusion of an annex contract of up to 10% of the total allowed problems with value of the contract. expropriation result in In these two particular roads’ segments, a factor that has con- severe stagnation in the tributed to postponing of the work interventions was the delay works. in securing external funding. The Government of Kosovo, in order to fund the works in these two segments, has concluded loan agreements with international financial institutions. How- ever, according to officials of the Ministry of Infrastructure, due to the administrative procedures required by the lenders, the start of these projects has been delayed. While work has begun in the Lumi i Madh - Smrekovica segment (Pristina - Mitrovica road segment), for the Kijevo - Zahaq segment (Prishtina - Peja As the designing of projects and the expropriation procedure road segment), the call for tender has not yet been published, are important processes of starting a project, the Ministry of although the preparations are finalized. Infrastructure should select the most qualified companies to carry out these tasks and hold them accountable for de- Referring to the nature and recurrence of problems in these ficiencies in their final products that they submit. In order two projects and problems that were present in most infra- for the projects to be implemented as planned, the Ministry structure projects implemented by all governments so far, KDI of Infrastructure should pay more attention to the contract recommends that, prior to commencement of infrastructure management process and take actions in cases of project projects involving expropriation, the Ministry of Infrastructure delays. Above all, the Ministry of Infrastructure must increase should wait until the completion of the expropriation process is transparency and be as accountable as possible to the public done, before beginning with the implementation of the project. regarding its work. 4 The Ministry of Infrastructure contracts companies to design construction projects. On the basis of their designs, the construction companies that are awarded the tenders carry out the works for which they have been