Tafileh wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) construction : final process evaluation

The construction “included replacement and demolition of the WWTP built in 1989 and construction of a new plant on the existing site of the old WWTP with a capacity of 5,000 m3/day expandable to 7,500 m3/day.”1 The construction of Tafileh WWTP began January 20, 2018, was approved by WAJ for substantial completion and start of Operation & Maintenance (O&M) on March 15, 2022,2. Although its completion date was originally targeted for January 11, 2021, it experienced 1.25-year delay. The main objective of this process evaluation was “to determine how the implementing partner [MWI/WAJ] was able to work with stakeholders to resolve the challenges…. separat[ing] out COVID-19 specific issues from those that apply more broadly. These lessons learned could then be applied to prevent, avoid, or expeditiously resolve similar challenges in the future.” The evaluation utilized a mixed-methods approach, guided by a set of process evaluation questions defined by USAID/Jordan. Insights were collected from multiple key stakeholders to help examine the broader issues and specific process challenges that caused the delays in the construction from the perspective of each stakeholder. Based on findings, the report concludes that the key delays were triggered by primarily by social challenges with the local community based primarily on unmanaged community expectations of employment and financial benefit (280 day extension in 2018); technical challenges around variation orders, their review and approval (358 day extension in 2019-2021); unjustified delays by the contractor, including difficulties in communication among stakeholders at times exacerbated by the construction contractor’s representative; and finally COVID19 lockdown-related delays (70 days extension in 2020). The following report details the challenges and opportunities throughout the implementation process of the WWTP construction and provides recommendations based on lessons identified.