le Botswana
Labour-based roadworks
The Labour-based Road Maintenance Demonstration Project implemented by the
Roads Department of the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, with
funding from Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) was initiated in 1999 and
concluded in 2002. The labour-based road maintenance strategy was developed to
contribute to the implementation of the Government of Botswana’s policies on
poverty alleviation through employment creation, and increasing private sector
involvement in the building of the economy. The aim of the demonstration project
was to develop experience and collect information on the application of labour-based
methods to the maintenance of sealed roads, with a view to expanding the
approach to 520 km of sealed primary and secondary roads. ASIST was engaged to
carry out technical audits and special studies to highlight problems and
constraints that need to be resolved for a large-scale application of labour-based
methods using small-scale citizen contractors. Following the successful
completion of the three pilot projects to assess the viability of using
small-scale local contractors in labour-based road maintenance works, the
programme is being expanded to the national road network. At least 16
contractors have been engaged to carry out routine road maintenance on various
sections of the road network and the government has expanded the road length
under labour-based maintenance from 252 to 520 km. This is expected to boost job
creation and the participation of small-scale contractors in the construction
industry.
A socio-economic impact study was carried out in 2002 to assess the positive
(and negative) impact of the labour-based road maintenance on the working and
non-working households, and the participating communities as a whole. The study
reviewed:
- the labour-based maintenance works carried out by the Roads Department in
relation to the achievement of the development objectives, which include
employment creation and poverty alleviation;
- assessed the socio-economic benefit realized through the implementation of
the labour-based road maintenance project;
- assessed the effect of the labour-based maintenance project on women and men
in relation to their status in community, total workload, family life, health
and welfare and how this affects the traditional way of living in the project
areas.
The findings of the impact assessment demonstrate that when a significant
number of households are earning a reasonable wage, the income flowing into a
community through those employed households does have a spin-on effect. Although
households were employed in blocks of time, rather than continuously, the level
of earnings was sufficiently high to enable them to meet immediate basic needs
and make other ‘investments’. These investments often created casual
employment opportunities for other people in the community. This appears not to
be the case with other labour intensive government projects such as drought
relief. This difference is significant in terms of the impact on the
socio-economic situation of individual households.
District Roads Improvement and Maintenance Programme
In eighties, the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing established
a District Roads Improvement and Maintenance Programme. After an initial
implementation period with demonstration and training in Serowe, the programme
expanded gradually to cover all nine districts in the country, employing some
3200 casual labourers. A Field Training Unit was set up in Molepolole as a part
of the Roads Training Centre under the Roads Department of the Ministry of
Works, Transport and Communications. During the first years of the programme,
the ILO was responsible for both programme management and training, but it
subsequently focused on labour-based training at the Field Training Unit. This
included the further development of labour-based technology and in particular,
the introduction of effective systems and procedures for routine road
maintenance. The ILO/ASIST provided technical assistance and advisory services
to the programme since its inception until 1995 with funding from different
sources (i.e., the World Bank, Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) and
Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida)).
In 1998, further support was provided to the Roads Department on a project to
further the application of labour-based methods in maintenance and construction
with funding from NORAD. Intrinsic to this and in line with Botswana National
Development Plan and Roads Department's policy, the programme was aimed at
increase the use of and support to the development of the domestic contracting
capacity. ASIST is engaged in:
- providing advice on project planning and management; and in reviewing
factors influencing the contracting environment including the sustainability of
contract documents;
- conducting regular technical audits on both subcomponents (maintenance and
construction) as regards systems and procedures as well as contract execution;
- participating in task force (reference group for all stakeholders) meetings
as a regular member.
Lire
- Socio economic impact study labour-based road maintenance demonstration
project - Final report
September 2002.
- Training and establishment of labour-based contractors in Botswana
- PDF 703 Kb
E. Rametse, ASIST Bulletin Issue no. 12. September 2001. Harare.
ILO/ASIST
- The District Road Improvement and Maintenance
Programme – Better roads and job creation in Malawi
Hagen, S and Relf, C., ILO,
1988
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