ROAD MAINTENANCE II

THE EVALUATION COVERS THE PERIOD FROM 7/77 TO 5/79 AND IS BASED ON A GROUP SEVEN SPECIAL REPORT. ALTHOUGH SEPRRN FIVE-YEAR ROAD MAINTENANCE AND OPERATING PLAN WERE PREPARED, AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE FIELD WORK FORCE IS IN PLACE AND ADEQUATE, THE PROJECT HAS BEEN ONLY MARGINALLY SUCCESSFUL. THE MOST CRUCIAL PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN A HIGH RATE OF EQUIPMENT DOWNTIME (DESPITE A REDUCTION IN THIS AREA); LACK OF MAINTENANCE PARTS REPLACEMENT; AND SEPRRN"S RUDIMENTARY PERSONNEL, BUDGET, ADMINISTRATION, AND COST-ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES. SEPRRN"S PROBLEMS IN THESE AREAS WILL PROBABLY NOT BE RESOLVED UNTIL IT IS INTEGRATED INTO THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS. PAVED ROADS WERE WELL-MAINTAINED. GRAVEL AND DIRT ROADS WERE POORLY MAINTAINED, AND SOME WERE NOT MAINTAINED AT ALL. BOTH THE NATURE OF THE WORK, ESPECIALLY ON RECENTLY-COMPLETED NATIONAL ROADS, AND SEPRRN"S MAINTENANCE PLAN, LAY STRESS ON LABOR-INTENSIVE METHODS. THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK BRIGADES DID NOT OCCUR AT THE PROJECTED SPEED DUE TO LACK OF SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT. IN REGARD TO PERFORMANCE, IT MUST BE KEPT IN MIND THAT THE BRIGADES STILL LACK SPECIALIZED PERSONNEL, TRAINING, EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF OPERATING AS DISTRICT UNITS. EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT WERE VERY POOR. SERIOUS EFFORTS TO CORRECT THIS SITUATION HAVE RECENTLY BEEN MADE. A STRONG REPORTING LINK FROM ITS DISTRICTS AND AN EFFECTIVE INSPECTION SYSTEM ARE NEEDED FOR SEPRRN TO MONITOR ITS OWN OUTPUT QUALITY AND QUANTITY. DUE TO MODIFICATIONS IN THE ORIGINAL TRAINING PLAN, IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS SERIOUSLY DELAYED. THE NEW PLAN SEEMS BEYOND PRESENT GOH CAPABILITY AND SHOULD BE LESS AMBITIOUS. AN INTENDED COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM DESIGNED TO INVOLVE LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN ROAD MAINTENANCE WAS NOT INITIATED. EVALUATION INCLUDES SEVERAL PROJECT-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY GROUP SEVEN; AS WELL AS SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN TO IMPLEMENT THEM.