Seventh Six-month progress report for project

Rehabilitation of Water Distribution Networks in Al-Bat’ha and Al Rifai’e town

REPORT COVER PAGE

Participating UN Organization:	Cluster:
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR PROJECT SERVICES –(UNOPS)	Infrastructure Rehabilitation

Project No. and Project Title:	Report Number:
E3 - 10 Rehabilitation of water distribution Networks in Al-Bat'ha and Al-Nasser town Changed to Rehabilitation of Water Distribution Networks in Al-Bat’ha and Al Rifai’e town.	2

Reporting Period:	Project Budget [and revision if applicable]:
1 July – 31 December 2007	US$1,529,051

List Implementing Partners:	Geographic Coverage/Scope:
Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MMPW)	Thi-Qar/ Nasiriya District and Al-Rifa'ie District.

Abbreviations and acronyms:	Project Status: Duration/Closed Project/Timeline Extension:
List the main abbreviations and acronyms that are used in the report. MMPW – Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works RFP – Request for Proposal ITB – Invitation to Bid TOR – Term of Reference BOQ – Bill of Quantity DoW – Directorate of Water	Starting Date: April 2007 Completion Date : January 2008 Extension requested until 30th June 2008

NARRATIVE REPORT FORMAT

Purpose

Provide the main objectives, outcomes, outputs of the programme/project

Key Immediate Objective/s:

Establish a sustainable, cost-effective and financially viable project by restoring the existing water distribution network to become functionally efficient.

Improve the operational efficiency of the existing water distribution network to significantly enhance the quality and quantity of water supplied to the population.

Introduce new technology by providing new techniques and best practices on advance type of material available for use.

Outputs

Increase in the quantity of water available through reduction in network losses

Improvements to the health status of the population

Improvement to the quality of water through prevention of cross contamination and a Reduction in the number of hospital cases

Job opportunities for over 150 construction workers per day, and up to 50 technicians and engineers employable in the use of the new technology for further future projects.

Explain how the programme/project is relevant to the following benchmarks:

The Development Goal of the project is to contribute towards improving the public health of the inhabitants by increasing the availability of safe drinking water in an effort to achieving the Millennium Development Goals set by the UN.

The project directly contributes towards achieving MDG Goal 7: “Ensure environmental sustainability” by reducing the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation.

The project contributes to some extent towards the attainment of MGD’s 4: Reduce child mortality; and to Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Child mortality is improved and the incidence of malaria and other diseases is reduced through improved access to safe and adequate supplies of drinking water.

Indicate the main implementing partners, their roles and responsibilities, and their interaction with the Agency

The project was designed in full cooperation with the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MMPW) and the Directorate of Water and Sanitation.

The Government showed particular interest and provided continuous assistance in making all necessary information and personnel available to assess the requirements. The Government also handed over studies done previously by other governmental ministries, consultants and contractors in order to facilitate the work of UNOPS on ground.

Human Resources

National Staff:

1 field engineer (Operation)

1 field coordinator (Operation)

1 Programme Officer (Operation / Programme)

International Staff:

1 International Project Manager (Operation/Programme)

Methods of Operating

Summarize the implementation mechanisms primarily utilized and how they are adapted to achieve maximum impact given the challenging operating context.

The implementation mechanism is based on the use of national staff carrying out detailed assessments and designs of the rehabilitation work under the guidance of experts and the programme manager based in Amman.

Periodic project review and coordination meetings and training on participatory approaches will be held in Amman.

The preparation of tender documents and specifications, tender evaluation, contracting and procurement, will be done in the UNOPS IQOC Office based in Amman.

Provide details on the procurement procedures utilized and explain variances in standard procedures.

UNOPS procures goods and services in close collaboration with the Clients, Iraqi authorities, and the Beneficiaries. While the individual arrangements vary depending on the Client and the specific project requirements, the general modalities are:

Requirements

Upon request of Client, and together with the Iraqi counterparts, identify the goods and services for UNOPS to provide or contract.

Preparation of detailed specifications of equipment and services and work plan, by UNOPS, based on input and with the support from the Client, the Iraqi authorities and the beneficiaries.

Short-listing

UNOPS has developed and maintains a database of known suppliers and service providers in Iraq (incl. performance assessment, capacity, registration in Iraq, etc.) and a roster of registered experts.

Qualified and potentially interested vendors in the area can also be drawn from the local authority’s relevant company registration offices.

Alternatively, interested companies can requested to submit their profiles in response to an Expression of Interest ad published in the Iraqi and/or international media (incl. internet).

Where necessary and relevant, information on companies/vendors can also be drawn from other UN agencies and entities operating in Iraq.

The short-list of companies selected to be included in the procurement exercise requires approval by the Regional Director, confirming that all relevant sources of information have been utilized for compiling the list.

Tendering Process

UNOPS issues an Invitation to Bid/Request for Proposal to all short-listed companies, requesting them to submit an Offer/Proposal in line with the specific requirements. The document also stipulates the exact process of submission, receipt, opening, and evaluation of bids and it informs on the nature of the contract/purchase order the selected bid could result in.

Requests for clarification received from potential bidders are responded to by UNOPS, if necessary upon consultation with the Client, relevant Iraqi authorities, and/or Beneficiaries.

After expiration of the submission deadline, all Bids received are opened by a UNOPS Bid Opening Committee. The opening ceremony is open to observers from the Client, relevant Iraqi authorities, the Beneficiaries, as well as for companies participating in the tender.

The evaluation follows UNOPS standard procedure, varying on procurement type and value, and should result in a recommendation for award of contract to the lowest, compliant bid. This recommendation requires approval by the relevant authority within UNOPS.

Provide details on the monitoring system(s) that are being used and how you identify and incorporate lessons learned into the ongoing programme/project.

UNOPS already has systems in place for project monitoring and quality control. The system relies on a clear segregation of functions and a system of checks and balances between the works of Consultants on the ground, Contractors, and the local authorities. UNOPS staff in Amman and in Iraq do the final review of all requests for financial disbursements as well as administrative oversight. Essentially, periodic monitoring missions are being undertaken from the UNOPS Iraq Operation centre to review the project management including financial management and control system. Tendering is carried out from the Amman office, while quality control and progress monitoring is being carried out with the local authorities to ensure consistency.

Report on any assessments, evaluations or studies undertaken.

Upon a request by the Iraqi Government, UNOPS carried out a new assessment on the need for water network rehabilitation in the Al Rifaey District in order to replace Al Nasser water network, which is already being rehabilitated by another donor.

Results

Provide a summary of programme/project progress in relation to planned outcomes and outputs; explain any variance in achieved versus planned outputs during the six month reporting period.

Because the Government (ISRB) requested UNOPS to change the water network previously selected for rehabilitation, the project could not progress as planned. Once the new site was selected, works started as planned and planned outputs are being implemented according to workplan.

Report on progress made toward the achievement of specific medium-term outcomes of the programme/project as a result of the achieved short-term outputs during this reporting period.

Network loses will be reduced by the end of the project.

Attainment of the project outcomes associated with the reduction in the incidence of water borne diseases will take some time to become evident

Physical works on the water supply mains for the population of the two cities will be guaranteed for the foreseeable future

Report on the key outputs achieved in the six month period including # and nature of the activities (inputs), % of completion and beneficiaries

Site preparations and contact awarding for civil work	Survey, design and document the civil works with full specifications was finalized. A contractor to install and rehabilitate the water mains pipes for both sites was chosen and awarded to. Mobilization of Material, man power and equipment was fully completed.	% of planned	100
Procurement of Pipes and fitting	The High Density Polyethylene pipes (HDPE) were procured and stacked in addition to the entire related PE fittings. All pipes and fitting where strictly cross checked against the ISO 9001 certification from the International Organization for Standardization and were approved	% of planned	100
Civil work and rehabilitation	Site preparation works for pipes were finalized in addition to an extension of approximately 5 km were laid and implemented.	% of planned	35
Training	The training will be conducted in June 08 for the technical personnel from the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, Directorate of Water and Sanitation will be invited. Bidding process for selecting appropriate training centers started and will be finalized in March 08	% of planned	20

Explain, if relevant, delays in programme/project implementation, the nature of the constraints, lessons learned in the process and actions taken to mitigate future delays.

A request was received from the Government of Iraq (ISRB) for changing one of the sites and this had a negative impact on the implementation process of the project. The project commencement was significantly delayed.

List the key partnerships and collaborations, and explain how such relationships impact on the achievement of results.

N/A

Summarize achievements against planned results for cross cutting issues: security, gender, human rights, employment (including # of short and/or long-term jobs created), and environment.

Improved access to water will benefit to both men and women equally.

The project also encourages female employment. Because UNOPS has been putting much pressure on Water authorities to provide employment opportunities for female engineers, two of the supervising engineers from the ThiQar Water Directorate are women.

Future Work Plan

Summarize the projected activities up to the end of June 2008 indicating any major adjustments in strategies, targets or key outcomes and outputs planned.

The laying of the remaining 19km of network in both towns will be completed by June 2008 to supply newly developed un-served areas. In addition UNOPS will carry out some modifications to the existing water distribution network with controlled zones. The water management training will be also be conducted on June 2008.