|
|||||||||||||||
ASIST Bulletin no. 11, July 2000 Country project news Developments in South Africa National and Provincial Departments of Public Works By Dejene Sahle, ASIST, Harare Towards the end of 1999 the duration of the project titled Application of Labour-Based Methods in South Africa (SA) came to a close. During the project period terms of references for various studies and research proposals were developed. It is believed that the results of these studies and research activities would help the government in the formulation of appropriate strategies and policies directed to the use of labour-based methods in the construction sector. A project document was prepared to carry out these studies, research activities and to provide support to various groups including support to organised labour and emerging contractors. The National Department of Public Works (NDPW) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) participated in the development of the project document, and UNDP agreed to provide funding. The project document was signed at the end of January 2000. The first activity carried out by the project was organising an all-inclusive workshop focusing on South Africa's experience on the development of emerging contractors. The workshop, organised in collaboration with the National Roads Agency (NRA), attracted participants from government departments, the private sector (consultancy and contractors) and the emerging contractors themselves. A wide range of constraints were raised at the workshop including access to equipment, and financial support. The government acknowledged the constraints and promised to address them. The NDPW is leading government's effort in addressing past imbalances in the construction sector. It has developed a procurement document titled Targeted Procurement (TP) (the use of public sector procurement as an instrument of social policy), to be used as a means to redress the imbalances. TP is part of the bidding document and complements the standard instructions to bidders. It specifies the minimum goals, e.g. level of employment generation, participation of selected target groups, etc., that have to be included in the bid and sets an incentive mechanism for incorporating the specified goals higher than that of the minimum levels. This will enforce government's policy of redressing the imbalances using public works with the ultimate goal of covering the whole construction sector. NDPW, in collaboration with ASIST, would like to carry out
an assessment of TP. The assessment will cover wider issues
including policy, implementation and training requirements. The assessment
is timely in the context of the South African government's intention
to share this approach with other Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) countries. Northern ProvinceThe Northern Province (NP) is characterised by very high unemployment and this is likely to increase due to the various restructuring of the management of state assets. The provincial administration has developed policies and strategies which emphasise job creation and infrastructure development. At the request of the Northern Province Roads Agency (NPRA) ASIST fielded a consultant to prepare a proposal for the development of small scale contractors who will participate in job creation and infrastructure maintenance in the province. The proposal has been presented by NPRA to the local office of the Department for International Development (DfID) for funding the project. DfID SA in principle agreed to fund the project. The project plans to train emerging contractors who will be participating in the maintenance and rehabilitation of low trafficked roads. The training includes theoretical and practical training on labour-based methods of road maintenance and construction and business administration. The Department of Rural Roads (DRR), Lesotho, has been identified as the main training provider as it has wide experience in the training of contractors using labour-based methods. DRR has suitable field practice training sites close to the training centre. Project appraisal will be carried out during June _ July 2000 so that the project commences before the end of the year. The project implementing team together with NPRA will be addressing some important issues that are key to the success of the project. Some of the issues include access to equipment and loans, appropriate procurement documentation, the role of financial institutions in supporting the programme, possible relaxation of government financial rules, and design and adoption of appropriate standards, etc. Impact of ASIST on PUSH By Simon Kunda, PUSH, Zambia The urban food for work project, Programme Urban Self Help (PUSH), was initiated to cushion the effect of the structural adjustment programme that was introduced by the Government of Zambia in the early nineties. The programme targeted the less privileged in low-income urban settlements. The objectives of the programme were twofold: to alleviate poverty and to upgrade the infrastructure in low-income settlements. The approach used to achieve the above objectives was through the concept of food for work. Labour-based technology (LBT) was applied to improve the existing infrastructures in low-income areas so that the residents of the settlements could participate in the Programme. This creates a sense of ownership among the residents of the infrastructure created. ASIST played an active role in the implementation of the programme especially in the provision of technical expertise. In 1991 and 1992 the ILO conducted a training course on labour-based road construction works for the technical staff in Lusaka and in the Copperbelt in Ndola. The course was especially beneficial to the road site technicians and engineers who had very little knowledge of labour-based road construction approaches. In 1996 ASIST participated in developing the Food for Assets Programme document, which is a more sustainable programme compared to the food for work programme. PUSH has received publications and manuals on labour-intensive works from the ASIST office in Nairobi, Kenya. The information has helped PUSH to improve its strategies in implementing LBT works in low-income settlements in Zambia. PUSH has also been able to use the information as guidelines to develop work norms for certain activities carried out during upgrading of infrastructure in squatter settlements. PUSH established community-based contractor groups in order to find lasting benefits for its programme participants. It is expected that the local authorities will hire the trained groups to carry out routine maintenance works on assets created in low-income settlements and other public works when the need arises. Through exchange visits, workshops and training programmes, PUSH has learnt a lot from ASIST especially with regards to community contracting, community-managed and labour-based upgrading of low-income settlements. PUSH had the privilege to learn and share experiences from the success of the Hanna Nassif project in Kinodoni district in Dar-es-Salaam during the International Training Course for Engineers and Town Planners held from November 1-12, 1999 in Tanzania. The impact of ASIST on PUSH has been beneficial and we are confident that the collaboration will continue so that the urban food for work programme is converted into a more sustainable programme. Malaba Town Council - Impact of ASIST By Joseph Agingu Sweta, Malaba Town Council, Uganda Malaba town has benefited from training received from the ASIST supported Kisii Training Centre (KTC). Road works Malaba town has only one tarmac highway; the rest of the roadwork is of earth or murram roads. Almost three-quarters of Malaba town is rural-urban. In the past a grader or bulldozer used to be hired to open roads for the community. However, this has been overtaken by use of manual labour works. The Council has opened rural access roads totalling 96 kms. The labour force for these works has been hired from the local community the road is serving. This has proved to be cheaper than hiring equipment. It has also made it easier for the community to see the importance of the road and ensures maintenance and sustainability. Overall, the Council realised that it saved 50% when it used local manual labour input compared to equipment based inputs. The council has been funding this activity from its internal revenue collections and funds from the Central Government. Drainage works After training at the Kisii Training Centre in Kenya, the advantages of LBT was realized. The council started to excavate trenches for storm water drainage systems using LBT. It has so far excavated a trench totalling four kilometers. It is hoped that by the end of this exercise the town will be free of stagnant water and impassable roads. Building construction and sanitation Other activities influenced as a result of the KTC/ASIST training have been building construction, where community contracting is encouraged, and sanitation improvement works, where LBT methods are being tried. Project costing and evaluation KTC/ASIST training has improved the council's project costing and evaluation practices. Advantages of labour-based technology
Egypt Social Fund for Development (SFD) Labour-based contractor training programme By Carl E. Berentsen, I.T. Transport Ltd., Egypt SFD's labour-based (LB) contractor training programme is an important part of the Danida funded Technical Assistance (TA) Agreement, outlined in the 1996 Project Agreement between the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Government of Denmark. Within this framework the immediate objectives of the project are defined as: l To contribute to employment creation through improved social services and improved physical infrastructure, which particularly are benefiting poorer segments of the population of Upper Egypt. l To increase the capacity of the SFD to serve as a vehicle for long term poverty alleviation. SFD has implemented a large number of LB projects throughout the country since 1992. However, the Danida funded contractor training programme is the first SFD project which follows a defined, systematic programme in training of contractors in labour-based technology on water, roads and irrigation projects. This is done through a carefully selected combination of theory and practical exercises, largely following formats successfully implemented by ILO and UNDP on a number of similar projects. This training programme is presently scheduled from year 1997 through January 2001. The initial outline of SFD's new contractor training programme in labour-based technology was prepared in 1997 by I.T. Transport Ltd. and Carl Bro Management. An outline for a programme to train 150 new small scale contractors was completed, including a draft standard curriculum for a three-batch national modular training programme. In December 1997, Danida entered into TA Agreements with Carl Bro Management (with I.T. Transport as sub-consultant) and SFD to further develop, implement and monitor the new labour-based programme throughout Egypt. To assist the TA team and SFD, a local consultancy contract was awarded to Chemonics Egypt in August 1998. Each ten-month module comprises a progressive integration of theoretical and practical sessions, through a careful four-step selection of candidates, and inputs by international experts at various critical points of the programme. A total of seven such visits have been made from August 1998 until May 2000. The initial reference material were publications by the ILO. The six `Improve Your Construction Business (IYCB)' manuals were translated to Arabic, and will be published later this year. More than 16 tailor made training manuals were developed in Arabic by the training consultant in cooperation with other experts. These will all be available as quality training documents on similar programmes in other Arabic speaking nations. Nine tenths of the trainees who successfully completed the final sub-contracts from the first two batches of the programme are now members of Egypt's Contractors Union (Grade 7) and are proceeding with their new career by tendering for projects independently. In parallel to training of new contractors in LB methods, SFD and their consultants are also merging these efforts through a systematic workshop programme and sub-contractor scheme with `established' contractors; i.e. contractors who are already registered with SFD on a national scale. At this point it is estimated that SFDs training programme will have created more than 400,000 work days by the end of the programme, with total contract amounts (LB subcontracts and main contracts) in excess of US$ 8 million. The expected results from this programme should reach more than 230 LB contractors of various sizes, plus 30 oriented NGOs trained/or introduced to the technology in a period of only two to two and a half years. From the early stages of SFD's LB training programme, the project claimed large international interest. This was initially done through employment of a range of international training experts, but also through close contact with the ILO and other organisations. SFD and the training consultant were represented at the Seventh Regional Seminar for Labour-based Practitioners in Zambia in May 1999. As a result from a poll taken among the participants in Lusaka, it has now been agreed that SFD will host the next conference in Cairo from October 15 to 19, 2000 and more than 500 letters of invitation have been sent out. Welcome to Cairo!!!
|
|||||||||||||||
Irrigation canal
covering project in upper Egypt - Photo by Carl Berentsen