Seventh Six-month progress report for project

Rehabilitation of Water Distribution Systems in Sidakan and Rawanduz

REPORT COVER PAGE

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

Project No. and Project Title:	Report Number:
E3 - 12-a Rehabilitation of Water Distribution Systems in Sidakan and Rawanduz	2

Reporting Period:	Project Budget [and revision if applicable]:
1 July – 31 December 2007	$2,496,475

List Implementing Partners:	Geographic Coverage/Scope:
Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MMPW)	Towns of Sidakan and Rawanduz, Soran District, Erbil Governorate

Abbreviations and acronyms:	Project Status: Duration/Closed Project/Timeline Extension:
Starting Date: April 2007 Completion Date : January 2008 Extension until 30th June 2008

NARRATIVE REPORT FORMAT

Purpose

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

Key Immediate Objective/s:

To significantly augment the quality and quantity of water supplied to 10,000 consumers in Sidakan town and 20,000 consumers in Rawanduz town by constructing replacement reservoirs and rehabilitating and extending the existing transmission and distribution mains utilising improved pipe materials and jointing techniques to reduce maintenance costs for the life of the new pipe system.

To provide a comprehensive purpose-developed training course in water supply network design and management to at least 30 technical staff of the Directorate of Water and Sanitation so as to improve quality and efficiency throughout the whole management cycle (planning, execution, monitoring) for service provision

Outputs

30,000 consumers will have improved quantity and quality of water available brought about through reduced contamination and a reduction in losses in the pipe distribution system.

Short-term employment creation for over 150 construction workers for a period of 9 months.

Thirty (30) government employees are able to pass on their knowledge to others and to plan, implement, monitor and manage water supply projects in the urban areas demonstrated by improved on-the-job monitoring of operational sustainability issues to support service delivery and policymaking functions

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

Actual execution of the civil works for this project will be undertaken by an appropriately qualified and experienced Iraqi contractor. The Contractor was selected through a competitive, open and transparent bidding process in accordance with UNOPS procurement procedures (mentioned below). UNOPS is responsible for selecting the Contractor and for administering the Contract. The Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works Directorate of Water and Sanitation is not involved in procurement or contract administration.

Human Resources

National Staff:

2 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 delivery mechanism chosen is based on the use of national staff carrying out detailed assessments, design work and on-site monitoring and inspection of the works constructed by the Contractor, under the guidance of an international programme manager based in Amman with frequent visits to Iraq.

UNOPS maintains an up-to-date database of more than 1,000 contractors specialised in various fields who operate in Iraq. UNOPS also maintains a database of costs of key construction materials and rates that are updated on a monthly basis. Together with a network of experienced local engineers UNOPS is in a unique position among UN agencies to ensure that bid prices are realistic and competitive, contractors are capable of implementing the work at hand, and that value for money is achieved through on-site monitoring and inspection.

Periodic project review and coordination meetings and training on participatory approaches is held in Erbil and 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.

The Project Manager, backed up by the National coordinator in Iraq, oversees project implementation, ensuring transparent procurement and timely delivery of required materials. UNOPS engineers will provide inspection and monitoring of project activities in the field and support the Project Manager in the overall monitoring and supervision of project implementation.

Periodic monitoring missions to the project site are undertaken by international project management personnel to review the project management and control system. The key tasks in tendering, quality control and field progress monitoring is being carried out with the help of the local authorities to ensure appropriateness and transparency.

Internal project review is conducted to assess performance, contribution to related outcomes, and determining lessons learnt for future projects with similar scope of works. Such reviews involve all key project stakeholders, and focus on progress towards planned outputs.

Report on any assessments, evaluations or studies undertaken.

N/A

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.

The project is progressing as scheduled. We achieved a 55% of the planned outputs in the reporting period. The remaining outputs will be achieved in the next reporting period.

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.

Implementing the rehabilitation of water networks in both towns is contributing towards improving the livelihoods of local populations, and is expected to help in preventing the movement of population to the big cities due to deteriorated water condition in the respective towns; the project will also have a significant impact on the local community by providing employment opportunities.

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 preparation of BOQ for the civil works with specifications were completed A contractor to install and rehabilitate the water mains and construct the water tanks 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) was procured and stacked at site. All pipes and fitting were strictly cross checked against the ISO 9001 certification from the International Organization for Standardization and were approved	% of planned	55
Civil work and rehabilitation	Site preparation works for the water tanks and collection tank in Sidikan was completed and the foundations of the tanks are in the process of casting.	% of planned	25
Training	The training will be conducted in June 08 and the 30 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 April 08	% of planned	10

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.

Several technical meetings were conducted in Erbil water directorate to set the workplan for a smooth implementation process. Procurement component of the project is progressing as scheduled while the implementation part is behind schedule (4 weeks) due to heavy snow fall in the site.

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

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 instrumentalities have shown particular interest and provided continuous assistance in making available all details and personnel to assess the requirements as well as handing over studies done previously by other governmental ministries, consultants and contractors in order to facilitate the work of UNOPS on ground.

The relationship between the MMPW and UNOPS is very positive. This is reflected in a new request from the Ministry to further implement a 13 KM of water network to un-served areas for which UNOPS will be submitting a budget revision. The budget needed to cover the additional works will be covered by USD 1,100,605 savings from the previous bidding process for the rehabilitation of both networks. This saved amount is sufficient to fund the implementation of additional work requested

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, one of the supervising engineers from Sulymania Water Directorate is a woman.

Interestingly, during implementation, it has been noted that female heads of households are cooking food to sell to construction workers on site. It is expected that such an important development contributes to employment creation and thus income generation in these areas and might also become an option for a number of women that reside along the pipeline routes while pipes are being laid.

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 scope of the project has been changed, as several meeting took place in Erbil in January 2008, during which the Sidakan and Rawanduz Water Authorities have expressed the need for additional works:

Sidakan Town:

Laying of another 8 Km of 110mm and 3 km of 160 mm diameter PE mains.

Compound Wall (Fence) around the source to protect from pollution.

Rawanduz Town:

Laying of another 5 Km of 110mm diameter PE mains

Subsequently, these requirements were discussed with Erbil Water Authorities to make sure they are absolutely necessary to improve the water distribution. It turns out that such an extension of the project scope would enhance the supply distribution in the towns and protect the source from pollution. The existing budget would be sufficient to fund the implementation of additional works and related expenses.