Audit of the Alexandria Port equipment project; audit report

Audit report covers the period 7/76-6/8l and is based on site visits and reviews of the procurement process and of project-related books and records. A.I.D."s contribution resulted in greatly improved Port operations. From 1975 to 1980 the number of ships received and serviced rose from 3,100 to 3,962; the number of general cargo ships grew 71%; the volume of cargo handled increased from 3.2 to 6.5 million metric tons; productivity in handling general cargo increased to 13.2 tons per hook-hour, substantially above the targeted ll.3 tons; and the time a ship had to wait to be unloaded fell from 6.3 to 3.3 days. Although satisfactory, A.I.D."s project monitoring and follow-up could have been better and allowed even greater achievements. In particular, A.I.D. did not pursue the Alexandria Port Authority"s (APA"s) failure to bring a planning sub-unit into operation or provide a detailed inter-donor implementation plan. In addition, delays in paving and surfacing in the Port area resulted in greater wear and tear on mobile cargo handling equipment and impeded use of forklift trucks and the 10,000 AID-financed pallets. Further, the APA did not list all loan-financed goods and services in implementation letters, displayed the A.I.D. emblem on only half of all major equipment; did not undertake a study on the use of incentives to retain personnel; did not provide USAID/E with audited statements of its operations; and did not develop revaluation numbers needed to estimate replacement costs of fixed assets. Finally, the planned joint World Bank/A.I.D. evaluation was not undertaken by the decision of the former.