Baluchistan area development project

Interim evaluation covers the period 1984-88 and is based on document review and interviews with key personnel. Project implementation has been slowed by a number of factors incumbent in development efforts in remote areas. The project"s institution building component, for example, which was to establish a provincial Project Planning and Monitoring Unit, has proved nearly impossible to implement due to lack of counterparts. The local contractor hired to build the Bela-Awaran road is unable to complete the road in the 30-month time period specified; grounds exist for this contract to be cancelled. The contractor for the Kech River bridge has also been slow to mobilize, but shows signs of making progress. A program of road maintenance, to be implemented by the provincial department of Communications and Works (C&W) has been slow to start up and C&W"s capabilities in this area seem marginal. On the other hand, the project"s vocational/technical training program is proceeding well; the TA team has established a good relationship with the local administration; the computer cell in the Planning and Development Department in Quetta is storing data that will be useful for future provincial development planning; and schools constructed under the project"s Special Development Activities program have been well-received locally. The simpler the initiative, the better. This project"s implementation difficulties point up the crucial need for high profile development projects to show results quickly in order to demonstrate to local communities that activities are aimed to benefit them. Since adequate counterparts and reliable local contractors cannot always be counted on, the Project Paper should only offer broad guidelines for implementation; a "rolling" planning process, which utilizes a variety of contracting modes (e.g., purchase order, direct contract, etc.), is required to deal with these conditions. Other lessons are that (1) it can be difficult to find experienced firms able to offer quality TA in remote regions, so the Mission must be prepared to design, manage, and monitor some activities from a distance; (2) data collection works best when driven by immediate project needs (the PP plan of collecting baseline data in a myriad of social and economic areas was unrealistic); (3) gathering socioeconomic data of any kind is a difficult process and is liable to take more time than originally planned; and (4) few local contractors can move quickly on large construction projects.