Bicol River basin urban functions in rural development project : summary and evaluation

THIS EVALUATION IS BASED UPON DRAFTS OF THE FINAL REPORT AND THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE SENIOR US CONSULTANT. THE BICOL RIVER DEVLPMNT PROG (BRBDP) CONTRACTED WITH THE CENTER FOR POLICY & DEVLPMNT STUDIES(CPDS) & THE UNIV OF THE PHILIPPINES-LOS BANOS TO DESIGN & IMPLEMENT THE PROJ. PROJ ACTIVITIES CENTERED ON DEVLPING A METHODOLOGY FOR SPATIAL ANALYSIS & PLNNG THAT IDEENTIFIES CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AREA'S SETTLEMENT SYSTS, DETERMINES THE DISTRIBUTION OF "URBAN FUNCTIONS" AND DELINEATES THE LINKAGES PROVIDING ACCESS FOR RURAL PEOPLE TO URBAN SERVICES & FACILITIES. THE SPATIAL ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT THE ASSUMPTION -- THE BASIN IS A COHESIVE SUBREGIONAL ECONOMY -- SHOULD BE RE-EXAMINED. ALSO THE BRBDP'S CURRENT "INTEGRATED AREA DEVLPMNT" BOUNDARIES WERE DRAWN W/OUT RECOGNITION OF THE AREA'S ECON & SPATIAL SUB-SYSTS, & DIVIDE WHAT SEEM TO BE ECONOMICALLY-RELATED CLUSTERS OF COMMUNITIES. AUTHOR RECOMMENDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION TO IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION TO MORE RURAL MUNICIPALITIES. THE BRBDP SHOULD CONSIDER DEVLPING "MINIMUM PACKAGES" WHICH SPECIFICALLY PLAN FOR & DESCRIBE THE SERVICES & FACILITIES NEEDED TO INTEGRATE RURAL COMMUNITIES & SETTLEMENTS. SOME ADMIN & ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS OCCURRED WHICH SHOULD BE DESIGNED OUT OF FUTURE PROJS. FOR EXAMPLE,AS A RESULT OF SUBCONTRACTING CPDS,ITS INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITIES RATHER THAN THOSE OF BRBDP WERE STRENGTHENED. PROGRESS WAS INHIBITED BY THE INABILITY OF KEY CPDS STAFF TO DEVOTE THEIR FULL-TIME SERVICES TO THE PROJ. ALSO,PLACING A LARGE NUMBER OF LOCAL CONSULTANTS ON RETAINER FOR PROJ'S DURATION WAS INEFFECTIVE & UNECONOMICAL. ALTHOUGH MAJOR OBJECTIVES WERE ACHIEVED,SOME FOLLOW-UP TASKS ARE NEEDED: INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE PLNNG PROCESS WITHIN BRBDP; DISSEMINATION OF FINDINGS WITHIN THE PHILIPPINES & AID; TRANSLATION OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS INTO SPECIFIC PROJS; & SUPPORTING RESRCH. THIS REPORT ATTACHED TO PES(DOCID B9310210001501) & PROGRESS RPT (DOCID B9310210005301).