Rural roads II

SECOPT will implement the project. Road and trail upgrading, using a combined heavy equipment-hand labor technology, will be carried out simultaneously in Honduras" North Coast, Central Valleys, and Western Highlands regions to improve small farmers" access to agricultural markets and social services; roads with the highest potential socioeconomic impacts will be given priority in upgrading. Drainage works and bridges (up to 400m) will be constructed to ensure the roads" year-round travelability and to retard future roadbed deterioration; four subregional SECOPT offices will be built to serve as storage, administrative, and light vehicle maintenance facilities. Rehabilitation and construction activities will be carried out by local contractors; the latter will be responsible for hiring community labor. SECOPT"s General Directorate of Maintenance (DGM) will be responsible for maintenance of 2,500 km of roads rehabilitated under this project and project 5220164. This activity will be separated from primary and secondary highway maintenance in order to facilitate local participation and to encourage DGM responsiveness to community needs. The DGM will develop a maintenance plan for the project which must be accepted by A.I.D. as a condition precedent to project disbursements; maintenance engineers assigned to each region will have overall responsibility for implementing the plan. Routine maintenance will be performed by community laborers, who will be mobilized by village leaders and local community organizations (the project will assign social promoters to facilitate community participation). SECOPT will provide equipment for periodic heavy maintenance needs. A rural roads design and construction manual will be developed by SECOPT with TA from USAID/H. Thirty SECOPT engineers, managers, and support personnel will receive short-term training. Three long-term advisors will be provided.