Project Management: Planning & Design - Essay Example

Local Community Participation along with other criteria such as economic, social etc. should be the principal basis for economic returns. For example the Malawi district road improvement and maintenance program has clear priorities and allocation formulae develops for the whole roads sub-sector, including rural roads - word programs were prepared using an HND-type model based on road deterioration and vehicle operation costs. For roads, priorities were assessed using economic criteria plus social factors and engineering judgment although not rigorous, the system does produce a practical means of planning within the roads sub-sector.

It would be desirable to develop similar methods elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa as an AID to sectoral planning. The planning process introduces in Kenya and Malawi used a combination of economic and social criteria. The successes recorded were as a result of the clear definition and understanding at project preparation stage. Use was made of existing district level planning capacity, working in Kenya through district development committees and were broadly accepted by the government. The banks involvement in these two projects has indicated that the development of local planning capacity takes place over a succession of projects, and not within the three to five years period of a single project.

Sectoral and regional planning is bound to be much influenced by national planning, and will hence will be at least partly political. Planners at all levels need to have firm policy guidelines within which to work and to get these, an agreed rural road strategy is required in each country. The according to in-country abilities. The most successful operation have been where these exists a competent central authority to act as a focus, coupled with maximum local participation from the outset.The principal aim of donor operations in rural roads in sub-Saharan Africa is the development of logical rural road strategies to guide sectoral and regional planning.

In arriving at a suitable rural road planning systems. Merits in a simple but formal, methodology to assess priorities between regions and within the sector are considered inputs include a range of agricultural, engineering, demographic, educational and social parameters. The main problems operate within the limitations of easily available and reliable data and weight are assured to the different parameters methodologies used in world Bank's projects for route selection are substantially improved by:(1) the inclusion of population densities in the process(2) the introduction of target road densities as additional criterion; and(3) the improvement of traffic demand under low flow conditions.

Current projects emphasize maintenance through the adoption of consolidation processes for planning and programming of maintenance, as well as improvement and rehabilitation. The more advanced road authorities uses intervention criteria based on road condition, maintenance costs, traffic data and budget levels to set maintenance programs. Few sub-Saharan African countries now have an adequate institutional planning of their rural roads. Some countries collect simple and reliable data, such as per kilometer costs and maintenance perimeter wider prevailing conditions, to assist rural road maintenance planning.

The review of experience shows the advantages of a well established country strategy for rural roads in most countries, the development of