Implementation Arrangements
Implementation of Infrastructure Investment
Planning. Based on the district
development plan and the annual district financial allocation
(see Funding Channels, below), districts establish an annual
district investment plan (DIP), which specifies which investment
projects will be implemented during that year. To this effect,
districts receive assistance from water specialists/road technicians
as well as from PCU provincial advisers (water and road engineers).
The DIP is to include projects to be funded by UCRIDP resources
as well as by other sources. Projects covering more than one
district are to be presented jointly by relevant districts.
The district forwards its DIP to the PCU,
which ensures that projects to be funded through UCRIDP resources
are in line with programme eligibility criteria. Eligibility
criteria will specify eligible sectors (water and feeder roads),
applicable planning and technical criteria, minimal contributions
to be provided by benefiting sectors/cells/user groups, commitments
by user groups with regard to operation and management, etc.
If eligibility criteria are met, the Provincial Steering Committee
approves projects proposed for UCRIDP-funding. UCRIDP includes
them in its annual investment plan and informs the districts.
Project Design. Project design,
based on approved DIP projects, is undertaken jointly by the
district and benefiting sectors/cells/user groups, with the
support of consulting firm(s) and of provincial technical
departments/PCU advisers. For borehole projects, tender documents
will be prepared by water specialists/water engineer based
on pre-set technical specifications. Roads and other investment
projects will be prepared by specialised consulting firms
contracted on a competitive basis. Consulting firms hired
by the district will be responsible for project design, preparation
of tender documents to select a contractor and for work supervision.
Provincial technical services/PCU advisers will provide the
district with technical assistance to tender and contract
consulting firms. Project design should cover: (i) preparation
of technical studies (including economic, financial and environmental
aspects); (ii) description of arrangements for maintenance,
operation and financing of recurrent costs; (iii) description
of works; (iv) modalities of implementation, including provisions
for supervision of works; (e) budget estimates and financing
modalities.
Works. Works, which will start
only when provisions for operation and maintenance have been
set, will be performed by a contractor and will be supervised
by the consulting firm, on behalf of and in conjunction with
the district and the benefiting community (cell/sector/user
group). Payments will be certified by the consulting firm,
the district and the community. The consulting firm will also
assist the district and the community in the provisional and
final hand-over. Provisional and final certificates of completion
of works will be jointly signed by the district and the community.
Upon work completion, the district and the benefiting community
will jointly prepare a final report, including a financial
report. The report will be submitted for approval to the district
council and will be sent to the PCU. The whole cycle will
have to take place over one year or less and be aligned with
the CDF planning and implementation cycle, which follows the
government's planning and budgeting cycle.
Financial Management for Infrastructure
Investment. Programme funds allocated to the province
and to the districts would be spent in accordance with respective
province/district MOUs. The PCU will disburse programme funds
in accordance with rules set forth in the Loan Agreements
signed by the government with IFAD and OPEC. The PCU is ultimately
accountable for the use of programme funds as well as for
providing financial and physical progress reports, and for
organising annual audits.
Funding Channels. The PCU
will determine the total amount of programme resources available
per district for the second (2004-2007) and the third phase
(2008-2010). This calculation will be based on preliminary
identification of needs as per the water and road master plans.
The global allocation for the second phase will be divided
in two parts. One part will be channelled to the districts
in the form of the District Infrastructure Investment Fund
(DIIF), directly by the PCU, or, as soon as CDF will start
funding block grants to the districts, by CDF. The other part
will form the Umutara Water and Roads Balancing Fund.
District Infrastructure Investment Fund
(DIIF). Funding for DIIF will be based on the principle
that every district is entitled to the same four-year budget
allocation. District four-year allocations will have to be
approved by the Provincial Steering Committee. The four-year
district allocation will be divided in four equal parts. In
the first year, districts will receive a quarter of their
four-year allocation. Based on an assessment of delivery performance,
they will receive more or less in the subsequent years. Districts
that would be consistently performing well would finish their
financial entitlement earlier. Those that would have a less
good performance might take longer. District allocations will
be available to finance investments in the areas of water,
feeder roads, public agriculture infrastructure and public
forestry, with the largest part of funds expected to go for
the first two (in line with community priorities).
Financing for infrastructure from DIIF will
be available to the districts through two complementary channels,
i.e. the Community Development Fund (CDF) and direct investment
by UCRIDP. The PCU and CDF will sign a Memorandum of Understanding
specifying modalities for channelling Programme funding through
CDF. Based on annual assessment of CDF performance and in
collaboration with CDF, the PCU will annually propose to the
Provincial Steering Committee, a (possibly increasing) portion
of funding to be channelled through CDF. The goal is to have
all of the programme’s infrastructure investment channelled
through CDF by the end of the second phase (2007).
Financing by the Water and Roads Balancing
Fund. The Balancing Fund is a temporary structure, which
will channel funds in excess of what districts are currently
able to deliver, based on their technical and absorptive capacities.
The Balancing Fund will provide add-on resources to finance
investment needs that exceed the amount provided under the
form of budget support, based on global estimated needs in
the water and roads master plans. Allocations will be calculated
by the PCU on the basis of master plans estimates and proposed
for endorsement to the Provincial Steering Committee. Every
year, districts will be informed of how much they are entitled
to receive from the Balancing Fund, and, at the same time,
how much they will receive against budget support.
District investment projects submitted to
the Balancing Fund will be identified in the district development
plan and in the annual district investment plan. Project design,
tendering, contracting and payments will be done by the province,
with PCU support. Districts and benefiting community/ies will
be associated to all implementation activities. In particular,
they will take part in project design, and they will co-sign,
together with the province, tender documents, contracts, payment
certifications, certificates of completion of works, and final
reports. Payments will be done by the province. The PCU will
transfer funds to the province after contracts have been signed
by the parties concerned. Accounts will be forwarded to the
PCU for control and support for general programme funds. The
PCU will monitor, evaluate and audit the Balancing Fund.
Water Investment Programme
Investment Programme for Water Facilities.
Based on an estimation of provincial needs developed in the
recently completed Water Master Plan, an estimate of the investment
required in water infrastructure over the coming four years
has been made for both domestic water and cattle watering
points. The range of technical solutions that can be applied
for both include: boreholes, piped water networks, collective
rainwater harvesting, roof catchments (for rainwater) and
valley dams partly repeated below and already listed under
para. 58. The indicative investments in the water investment
activities are presented in detail by district in Working
Paper 2, Water Investment. It should be noted that the
final investment would depend on demand-based planning in
the each of the districts. The types of water facilities that
would be financed by the Programme would include: boreholes
equipped with hand pumps, boreholes equipped with a wind driven
pump supplying water to a small network, piped water network
rehabilitation, extension of or newly created piped water
networks, collective rainwater harvesting systems, water supply
to public facilities, construction of new dams and rehabilitation
of old dams for cattle watering points, and for sanitation,
construction of latrines and associated training and mobilization.
Pre-conditions. The pre-conditions
for a community to qualify for investment in a Programme-financed
water facility are as follows:
For boreholes to be equipped with hand pumps:
· Water committee created and officially recognised by the
sector and the district;
· Bank account opened with an initial deposit at a level
consistent with deposits stipulated in similar programmes
elsewhere in the country;
· Commitment to contribute in kind for clearing and fencing
the well site;
· Commitment to put make regular monthly deposits in the
bank account for pump maintenance.
For networks:
· Water committee or water user association created and
recognised by sector and district;
· Commitment to pay for water on the basis of consumption.
For dams:
· Water user association created and officially recognised
by the sector and the district;
· Bank account opened with an initial deposit at a level
consistent with deposits stipulated in similar programmes
elsewhere in the country;
· Commitment to put make an annual deposits in the bank
account of approximately FRw one million to cover maintenance
and repair of the dam;
· Commitment to contribute in kind for fencing the reservoir
and the dam, planting grass and securing the regular maintenance
of the dam.
Monitoring of Water Development Impact
on Environment. The programme of monitoring the environmental
impact of the water investment programme will be implemented
by the PCU. The spring discharge measurement will be done
through a small contract with a local consulting firm. The
groundwater monitoring will tentatively be organized with
school teachers, since the measurements are very simple and
consist only of introducing and electrical sounding device
into a small ½” pipe already installed in the observation
wells and then reading the depth to water level.
Road Investment Programme
Indicative Road Investment Programme.
During the second phase of the Programme it is planned to
construct/rehabilitate 479 km of roads in the eight districts.
This number reflects the budget currently available but it
will be adjusted in response to the demands from the communities
and thereafter the districts for rural infrastructure (both
roads and water), the allocation by the districts of the budget
to different investments, and the commitment by the districts
and sectors to set up the requisite road maintenance brigades
and road maintenance teams.
Pre-conditions. For road projects,
works will start only when (i) the cells/sectors will
have provided their contribution, which can be in kind (sand,
gravel, carry stones…), and (ii) basic arrangements for
the financing and implementation of operation and maintenance
will have been agreed between the district, the province and
the PCU.
Operation and Maintenance. District
maintenance programmes are prepared by district/sector road
committees, with the assistance of road technicians/PCU adviser
for roads. Regular road maintenance is traditionally secured
by one road brigade per district and sector maintenance teams
(one team of 10 labourers for 20 km). For periodic maintenance,
the district receives assistance from the province, including
the hiring of a grader and of compactors. This equipment,
which was already purchased by UCRIDP, will be transferred
to the province and will be managed based on commercial principles
(provision of services against payment), with possibly further
privatisation. Privatisation of basic and periodic road maintenance
will also be tested.
Road Committees. The key bodies
in this process are the roads committees/subcommittees at
the cell, sector, district and provincial levels. Working
Paper 3, Feeder Road Programme, lists the members of
each committee and outlines its responsibilities.
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