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THE
World Bank (WB) is likely to approve the continuation of
the controversial National Roads Improvement Project (NRIMP)
Phase II after one of its units recommended it.
In a
phone interview with the BusinessMirror, World Bank
Infrastructure Cluster senior infrastructure specialist
Ben Eijbergen said the main reason the unit recommended
the continuation of the bank’s involvement in the
project was due to the reforms set in place by the
government. In the report, the bank said corruption has
been a major threat to the efficiency of the project.
“We know
what we want and we know what we want to do. We have put
a lot of efforts and money into improving and upgrading
systems and strengthening the operation system of the
implementing agency. However, there is still a lot of
work to be done,” Eijbergen told the BusinessMirror.
Eijbergen added the bidding for the NRIMP 2 will be
based largely on the bank’s procurement rules. No other
changes have also been made on the loan amount and other
project details.
Based on
the document which appeared in the bank’s web site, the
Board is set to meet on May 13 to discuss the approval
for the project’s resumption. The project was
recommended to be put on hold by WB president Robert
Zoellick himself last November.
The bank
has scheduled a joint press conference with the Finance
Department on Wednesday about the NRIMP II. The project
is the second part of the three-phase Adaptable Program
Loan designed to build, maintain and improve national
roads in the country through stronger business processes
and reforms for financing and managing roads.
In the
bank’s appraisal document, the WB said “there is a
compelling case to continue the bank’s strong engagement
in the road sector.”
NRIMP
was launched in 2000 as a three-phase 10-year adaptable
program to support the government’s sector-reform goals
and the sustainable development and operation of the
National Roads System (NRS).
Under
this program, the report stated that the road fund was
established and became operational, the critical
financial management and environmental safeguards
processes were established, and the physical targets
were achieved, albeit with a delay of two years.
“Given
the recommendations of the independent review and the
experience gained under the project on the degree of
difficulty in gaining legislative support for reforms,
the WB has decided to proceed with Phase 2 but shift its
approach to focus on administrative reforms, and to
reschedule the legislative reforms needing legislation
to Phase 3,” the appraisal said.
The bank
said reforms are being introduced in the road sector
following the discovery that corruption has been a major
threat to the efficiency and fairness of the procurement
process in the project.
These
reforms include tighter government rules, improved
oversight, opened competition and reporting, and
enforced bid ceilings in national procurement reform.
Apart
from bid ceilings, which the bank’s procurement policy
does not support, the report said other corrective
measures are being put in place to strengthen
international procurement under NRIMP 2.
“Among
the business-process reforms in DPWH [Department of
Public Works and Highways], computerization of the
contractor qualification process has improved the
efficiency and transparency of procurement and other
electronic support systems are ready to be implemented,”
the report stated.
The
report added the budgeting process is also being
improved at the national level to address perceptions of
manipulation, especially the allocation for general
maintenance and project listing in capital budgets.
This,
the bank said, will also reduce the opportunity for
budget realignment and authorization which, at times,
have been instruments of cash diversion.
“Fighting corruption is a formidable challenge that cuts
through sectors and levels of bureaucracy,” the report
stated.
The bank
added that a government framework for strengthening
integrity has already been put in place for the DPWH to
mitigate corruption risks. |
