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Transcript
NEIGHOURIOODURS k~i654 - USAIDFgypt AN(-4Uv S R E S
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NEAR EAST EVALUATION ABSTRACT PMEf TU($) NO WtUM S) t ar-
The purpose of the project is to develop the capacity of local government in greater Cairo and Alexandria to provide basic services to the urban poor The project finances modest improvements in infrastructure in selected low-income neighbourhoods to enhance living conditions and economic climate in those areis
AUIHU ii6 oArLAMD US LOP FuMUN MWLu1PS MUMER-A PES OA
1981 $89 ASSTVCTPREARUf 3
Million OATE
85-20I ABSTACT CMOL
September ST GATE
198E Anuar0Spca
oDMsr (Spcfy)
Shanti Conly DPPEPE -qrVt G aham Kerr DRLAD tO Tinail September 9 1985 8 i__these_ This evaluation submitted tBILS January 1985 is the second of a three-phase
evaluation contract with ISTI and the Sobial Research Center AUC The evaluation is intended to evaluate project outputs and to assess progress towards increasing the institutional capacity of urban government It includes separate reports on (i)districtdecision-making (ii) construction management and maintenance and (iii) PVO assistance
Tle evaluators assessment of progress towards decentralization objectiveL is sured up by districts can do the job - with technical assistancen Technical assistance has played an important role in engineering back-up and improvement of monitoring systems The local-level decision-making process has successfully selected subprojects reflecting connity needs However lack of consultation of end-users during design is a recurring problem In one of six case-studies this limited the utility of facilities constructed by the local councils Increasingly subprojects involve collaboration between different levels of local government Although the project has improved vertical linkages it has not had much impact on horizontal linkages withindistrict government The evaluators report the continiling lack of clear specific long-term objectives for allocation of resources and responsibility to local government
The project has very successfully expanded basic neighbourhood infrastructure (potable water street lighting schools health clinics etc ) in previously underserved areas of greater Cairo and Alexandria 800 of a total project target of 950 subprojects have been completed NUS subprojects are judged to be appropriate wanted and used There arehowever several problems While oonstructi(x quality is no worse than in other similar projects in Egypt poor design and finishing work freqd ntly result in avoidable deterioration In a survey of subprojects constructed in the first year of the project the technical assistance contractor found that 32 of these structures needed repair or rehabilitation upon expiration of the one-year contractor warranty period Contributingfactors include a shortage of design engineers in the districts and inadequate supervisionand site inspections by district engineers Management of NUS maintenance funds is anothier important issue Funds have been released to the district administrations rather than to the service directorates operating the facilities Development of a parallel NUS maintenance system may weaken existing capacity of the service directorates The GDE has been slow to release both maintenance and incentive funds Moreover current incentives are too little too late and too temporary to affect staff motivation
The pace of implementation of PVO activities is satisfactory although fewer PVOs than anticipated meet eligibility criteria for project assistance PVOs already providepignificant services to the urban poor NUS has made 1000 PVO grants averaging LE 6600 These grants have primarily been used for equipment to improve existing PVO services - nurseries trainingsewing centers and health clinics The report comments that NUS grants are substantial in relation to PVO budgets and could have had a greater impactif used to develop PMO organizational capacity and to expand services More recently NUS has enhanced its impact on PVOs by emphasizing training of PVO leaders and staff and introduction of new services Mission Comment
The report relies heavily on case-studies and anecdotal evidence It is difficult for the reader to determine the frequency of problems identified by the evaluators A more quantified approad would be more useful in the third phase of the evaluation
D~c J8DPiPPEPESConlyys090985 shy
ARAB REBUBLIC OF EGYPT
NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES PROJECT
EVALUATION
PHASE II
Prepared for The United States Agency for International Development
Prepared by The International Science and Technology Institute Inc and
The Social Research Center of the American University In Cairo
NUS EVALUATION PROJECT PHASE TWO
INTRODUCTIONamp
SUMMARY
Prepared by
International Science and Technology Institute Inc2033 M St NW Washington DC
Social Research Center American University in Cairo 113 Kasr Al Aini St Cairo Egypt
January 1985
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
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9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
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NEAR EAST EVALUATION ABSTRACT PMEf TU($) NO WtUM S) t ar-
The purpose of the project is to develop the capacity of local government in greater Cairo and Alexandria to provide basic services to the urban poor The project finances modest improvements in infrastructure in selected low-income neighbourhoods to enhance living conditions and economic climate in those areis
AUIHU ii6 oArLAMD US LOP FuMUN MWLu1PS MUMER-A PES OA
1981 $89 ASSTVCTPREARUf 3
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85-20I ABSTACT CMOL
September ST GATE
198E Anuar0Spca
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Shanti Conly DPPEPE -qrVt G aham Kerr DRLAD tO Tinail September 9 1985 8 i__these_ This evaluation submitted tBILS January 1985 is the second of a three-phase
evaluation contract with ISTI and the Sobial Research Center AUC The evaluation is intended to evaluate project outputs and to assess progress towards increasing the institutional capacity of urban government It includes separate reports on (i)districtdecision-making (ii) construction management and maintenance and (iii) PVO assistance
Tle evaluators assessment of progress towards decentralization objectiveL is sured up by districts can do the job - with technical assistancen Technical assistance has played an important role in engineering back-up and improvement of monitoring systems The local-level decision-making process has successfully selected subprojects reflecting connity needs However lack of consultation of end-users during design is a recurring problem In one of six case-studies this limited the utility of facilities constructed by the local councils Increasingly subprojects involve collaboration between different levels of local government Although the project has improved vertical linkages it has not had much impact on horizontal linkages withindistrict government The evaluators report the continiling lack of clear specific long-term objectives for allocation of resources and responsibility to local government
The project has very successfully expanded basic neighbourhood infrastructure (potable water street lighting schools health clinics etc ) in previously underserved areas of greater Cairo and Alexandria 800 of a total project target of 950 subprojects have been completed NUS subprojects are judged to be appropriate wanted and used There arehowever several problems While oonstructi(x quality is no worse than in other similar projects in Egypt poor design and finishing work freqd ntly result in avoidable deterioration In a survey of subprojects constructed in the first year of the project the technical assistance contractor found that 32 of these structures needed repair or rehabilitation upon expiration of the one-year contractor warranty period Contributingfactors include a shortage of design engineers in the districts and inadequate supervisionand site inspections by district engineers Management of NUS maintenance funds is anothier important issue Funds have been released to the district administrations rather than to the service directorates operating the facilities Development of a parallel NUS maintenance system may weaken existing capacity of the service directorates The GDE has been slow to release both maintenance and incentive funds Moreover current incentives are too little too late and too temporary to affect staff motivation
The pace of implementation of PVO activities is satisfactory although fewer PVOs than anticipated meet eligibility criteria for project assistance PVOs already providepignificant services to the urban poor NUS has made 1000 PVO grants averaging LE 6600 These grants have primarily been used for equipment to improve existing PVO services - nurseries trainingsewing centers and health clinics The report comments that NUS grants are substantial in relation to PVO budgets and could have had a greater impactif used to develop PMO organizational capacity and to expand services More recently NUS has enhanced its impact on PVOs by emphasizing training of PVO leaders and staff and introduction of new services Mission Comment
The report relies heavily on case-studies and anecdotal evidence It is difficult for the reader to determine the frequency of problems identified by the evaluators A more quantified approad would be more useful in the third phase of the evaluation
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ARAB REBUBLIC OF EGYPT
NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES PROJECT
EVALUATION
PHASE II
Prepared for The United States Agency for International Development
Prepared by The International Science and Technology Institute Inc and
The Social Research Center of the American University In Cairo
NUS EVALUATION PROJECT PHASE TWO
INTRODUCTIONamp
SUMMARY
Prepared by
International Science and Technology Institute Inc2033 M St NW Washington DC
Social Research Center American University in Cairo 113 Kasr Al Aini St Cairo Egypt
January 1985
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
NEAR EAST EVALUATION ABSTRACT PMEf TU($) NO WtUM S) t ar-
The purpose of the project is to develop the capacity of local government in greater Cairo and Alexandria to provide basic services to the urban poor The project finances modest improvements in infrastructure in selected low-income neighbourhoods to enhance living conditions and economic climate in those areis
AUIHU ii6 oArLAMD US LOP FuMUN MWLu1PS MUMER-A PES OA
1981 $89 ASSTVCTPREARUf 3
Million OATE
85-20I ABSTACT CMOL
September ST GATE
198E Anuar0Spca
oDMsr (Spcfy)
Shanti Conly DPPEPE -qrVt G aham Kerr DRLAD tO Tinail September 9 1985 8 i__these_ This evaluation submitted tBILS January 1985 is the second of a three-phase
evaluation contract with ISTI and the Sobial Research Center AUC The evaluation is intended to evaluate project outputs and to assess progress towards increasing the institutional capacity of urban government It includes separate reports on (i)districtdecision-making (ii) construction management and maintenance and (iii) PVO assistance
Tle evaluators assessment of progress towards decentralization objectiveL is sured up by districts can do the job - with technical assistancen Technical assistance has played an important role in engineering back-up and improvement of monitoring systems The local-level decision-making process has successfully selected subprojects reflecting connity needs However lack of consultation of end-users during design is a recurring problem In one of six case-studies this limited the utility of facilities constructed by the local councils Increasingly subprojects involve collaboration between different levels of local government Although the project has improved vertical linkages it has not had much impact on horizontal linkages withindistrict government The evaluators report the continiling lack of clear specific long-term objectives for allocation of resources and responsibility to local government
The project has very successfully expanded basic neighbourhood infrastructure (potable water street lighting schools health clinics etc ) in previously underserved areas of greater Cairo and Alexandria 800 of a total project target of 950 subprojects have been completed NUS subprojects are judged to be appropriate wanted and used There arehowever several problems While oonstructi(x quality is no worse than in other similar projects in Egypt poor design and finishing work freqd ntly result in avoidable deterioration In a survey of subprojects constructed in the first year of the project the technical assistance contractor found that 32 of these structures needed repair or rehabilitation upon expiration of the one-year contractor warranty period Contributingfactors include a shortage of design engineers in the districts and inadequate supervisionand site inspections by district engineers Management of NUS maintenance funds is anothier important issue Funds have been released to the district administrations rather than to the service directorates operating the facilities Development of a parallel NUS maintenance system may weaken existing capacity of the service directorates The GDE has been slow to release both maintenance and incentive funds Moreover current incentives are too little too late and too temporary to affect staff motivation
The pace of implementation of PVO activities is satisfactory although fewer PVOs than anticipated meet eligibility criteria for project assistance PVOs already providepignificant services to the urban poor NUS has made 1000 PVO grants averaging LE 6600 These grants have primarily been used for equipment to improve existing PVO services - nurseries trainingsewing centers and health clinics The report comments that NUS grants are substantial in relation to PVO budgets and could have had a greater impactif used to develop PMO organizational capacity and to expand services More recently NUS has enhanced its impact on PVOs by emphasizing training of PVO leaders and staff and introduction of new services Mission Comment
The report relies heavily on case-studies and anecdotal evidence It is difficult for the reader to determine the frequency of problems identified by the evaluators A more quantified approad would be more useful in the third phase of the evaluation
D~c J8DPiPPEPESConlyys090985 shy
ARAB REBUBLIC OF EGYPT
NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES PROJECT
EVALUATION
PHASE II
Prepared for The United States Agency for International Development
Prepared by The International Science and Technology Institute Inc and
The Social Research Center of the American University In Cairo
NUS EVALUATION PROJECT PHASE TWO
INTRODUCTIONamp
SUMMARY
Prepared by
International Science and Technology Institute Inc2033 M St NW Washington DC
Social Research Center American University in Cairo 113 Kasr Al Aini St Cairo Egypt
January 1985
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
ARAB REBUBLIC OF EGYPT
NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES PROJECT
EVALUATION
PHASE II
Prepared for The United States Agency for International Development
Prepared by The International Science and Technology Institute Inc and
The Social Research Center of the American University In Cairo
NUS EVALUATION PROJECT PHASE TWO
INTRODUCTIONamp
SUMMARY
Prepared by
International Science and Technology Institute Inc2033 M St NW Washington DC
Social Research Center American University in Cairo 113 Kasr Al Aini St Cairo Egypt
January 1985
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
NUS EVALUATION PROJECT PHASE TWO
INTRODUCTIONamp
SUMMARY
Prepared by
International Science and Technology Institute Inc2033 M St NW Washington DC
Social Research Center American University in Cairo 113 Kasr Al Aini St Cairo Egypt
January 1985
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
1 THE PROJECT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD URBAN SERVICES project strengthens local governshyment in Cairo and Alexandria by funding activities at threelevels four urban governorates twenty-three districts and hundreds of neighborhood private voluntary organizations These activities are supported by a program of technical assistance and training directed by the American firm Wilbur Smith and Associates (WS)
Project activity beginning in late 1981 was under the direct management of the AID mission until the TA Contractor began work in June 198z The NUS Project is scheduled to end in September 1986
The philosophy of the project is simple Local urban governmentin Egypt had been given authority to carry out a wider range of tasks and take responsibility for provision of basic servicesbut it had neither the resources nor the experience NUS provishydes resources in the form of funding for about two thousand small subprojects and experience through carrying out these activities with guidance and training proviled by Wilbur Smith andAssociates Through the repeated completion of NUS subprojectsEgyptian officials should gain confidence in the abilities of district units to perform important tasks The result should be a certain devolution of responsibilities and matching financial resources to local levels of an increasingly more competent urban administration
Although the focus is on public administration the projectaddresses the private sector in two ways First most of the subprojects are performed under contract by private Egyptianfirms Second the project supports a large number privateneighborhood associations through the PVO program
2 THE EVALUATION
The language of the Project Paper stressed flexiblethe andexperimental nature of the NUS Project The repetition of simishylar subprojects in twenty-three districts over a several yearperiod provides an on-going laboratory for examining the changing processes of Egyptian urban administration The Project Paperauthorized a special external evaluation project to monitor periodically the developments of NUS This NUS Evaluation Project is carried out by the International Science and Technology Institute (ISTI) with the local support of the American University in Cairos Social Research Center (SRC)
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The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
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C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
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9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
The Evaluation activities are divided into three phases ThePhase One main report was submitted in December 1983 and was supplemented by a special compendium on district resources in March 1984 The Phase One evaluation provided an across the board review of NUS progress during its first year and a half of operation and it established the basis for further evaluation work and for the final measurement of the impact of NUS uponurban processes
Phase Two aims at providing information on specific aspects of NUS rather than repeating the broad overview of the projectThis phase is the last opportunity for the evaluation to contrishybute to the NUS Projects accomplishments and theto planning process for those urban projects to follow the current 1US Project The aspects to be examined were chosen in consultation with AID project management in Cairo and in Washington and with the TA contractor The result is three reports
(a) Contract Management and Subproject Maintenance
The first of these reports focuses directly on the practicalaspects of the districts management of construction subprcjects- selection design costing bidding construction supervisioncompletion and maintenance This report focuses on the problem areas of NUS implementation and helps identify practical solushytions As part of this process the evaluation team held debriefings and workshops with GOE line staff in the districts and with AID management and the TA contractor The key findingsof this activity have been translated into Arabic and should become the basis for a series of district level workshops also recommended in the report
(b) District Decision Making and Community Involvement
The second report is intended to provide a more complete documenshytation of the operation of district decision making than was preshyviously available Additionally it provides case studies of the social context institutional operation and human impact of six subprojects This report documents the tremendous gaps in urban services that are being bridged by NUS and the very real and pressing human needs that are being served Although the first and second reports may be read separately there is much in them that is mutually reinforcing The study stresses that local government in urban Egypt is not a single entity but an evolvingfederation of semi-autonomous institutions The implication of this for the NUS project are that attention must be given to
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
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strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
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C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
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9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
strengthening lateral communication and organizational linkswell as asthe vertical links of rules forms and proceedures Thestudy also finds that the Popular Council often plays an imporshytant role both formally and informally The distinction which isoften made in documents between this elected and theappointed Executive Council is an over-simplification Moreaccurately Popular council members are local residents with conshynections to the national political party which nominates them for the office
(c) Six Private Voluntary Organizations in Cairo Neighborhoods
The case studies on Private Voluntary Organizations are intendedprimarily to inform AID decision makers as they plan for post NUSurban projects Their purpose is to provide qualitative documenshytation of the capabilities and weaknesses of a few of the raorethan one thousand neighborhood organizations eligible for NUS support The NUS project is the first donor project to allocatelarge resourbes ($114 million) to a large number of privateEgyptian devclopment associations These six case studies suggest that the next round of urban AID projects could do more to support these private efforts at community development and in so doing could increase the direct impact of AID on poor urban communities
3 NUS UPDATE
Phase Two does not conduct a review of all NUS Project activishyties but our evaluation interviews allow an update on projectissues raised in the Phase One report of December 1983
GENERAL
The NUS project is a succees of which the AID mission the GOEand the TA contractor should be proud The pattern remains much the same with tremendous success in the rate implementation ofdistrict and special governorate subprojects as the strongestpoint and the lagging training activities and lack of specifictargets for capacity building and decentralization as problems
DISTRICT SUBPROJECTS
According to the TA contractors documentation 80 of thedistrict subproject andfunding category has been disbursed almost 800 district subprojects have been completed Many others are in progress and there is no doubt that NUS will surpass its
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numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
numerical target of 950 district subprojects before the end of
the project
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Phase One report noted that 22 of the district funds had been reallocated to special projects This trend has continued and increased until at present 42 of the district subprojectfunds have been reallocated for special projects such as office equipment street paving sidewalk construction solid waste management and vehicle maintenance Whereas the original designof NUS focused strongly on the districts the special projectshave emphasised a partnership between governorate and districtsbetween the need for local decisions on the one hand and cityshywide planning and coordination on the other For examplesidewalk reconstruction was identified as a general need by theCairo governorate Individual Cairo districts chose which sidewalks and arranged for the work
PVO SUBPROJECTS
The Phase One report worried that the PVO program was oriented toward larger and better established PVOs The broad coveragethat has taken place since then shows no such preferenceSeventy-five percent of eligible PVOs are receiving NUS grants
During the last year the TA contractor has carried out additional surveys of the PVO community in the governorates of CairoAlexandria and Giza These reports provide a much more accurate assessment of the types distribution characteristics and financial structures oZ Egyptian urban PVOs than was previously available
A major change in the PVO program is the creation of four relatishyvely large community centers one in each urban governorateApproximately one million dollars is being reallocated from the PVO budget for the construction of these centers
INCENTIVE AND MAINTENANCE FUNDS FROM GOE
Problems of GOE provision of incentive and maintenance funds remain although there has been progress in both of these areas
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TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
-6shy
--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
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32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
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34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
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Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
TRAINING
In Phase Two we did not conduct an evaluation of the trainingprogram It was felt that as it is only now moving into theimplementation stage close evaluation would be premature andcounterproductive From discussions with AID project managementand TA contractor personnel we venture the following assessment
The nine courses are beginning - five for government personneland four for PVO personnel
The course are institutionalized in Egyptian government traininginstitutions Whether the Egyptian Government will be willing tofinance the continuation of these courses after NUS is not clear however
From the evaluations of the pilot training courses and from areview of some of the training manuals the programs seem releshyvant to the Egyptlan and NUS context using cases drawn directly from NUS experience
We are concerned about training numbers For instance althoughhundreds of district engineers receive training it is difficult to make sure they the right engineers Most districts employbetween ten and thirty engineers but only two or three are actually involved in subprojectmanagement Since attendance at training sessions is reported to be a problem (generally runningat 50) twothe key busiest district engineers may be among theabsent The next phase of the evaluation will need to consider not only in the numbers of training person days delivered but who was trained and how it affected their work
We have also recommended he addition of buildingteam typedistrict workshops to the training program in order to address organizational issues of lateral communications shared objecshytives and motivation These are being planned by AID project management and the TA contractor
NUS OBJECTIVES
The Phase One report stressed that in an evolving project such as NUS the final goals regarding local government responsibility competency and resources remain unspecified At the end of NUSwhat levels of administration should carry out whici tasks to what degrees of effectiveness These are issues hich theEgyptian government must decide on the basis of its experiencewith NUS The Phase Two reports suggest that such decisions might be negotiated within a framework of planning for the next
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round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
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--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
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engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
round of urban projects and incorporated within a plannedprogram of phaseover from the current NUS to its successor proshyject or projects
ATTITUDES
The evaluation team observed important changes in attitudestoward NUS Local Egyptian officials now discuss NUS andproblems of urban administration in a more pragmatic way InPhase One interviews many local officials spoke of NUS as beingunnecessary and troublesome and expressed unrealistic views ofthe relationship between district government responsibilities and resources AID officials and contractor personnel alsodemonstrate much more realistic and better informed attitudestoward the problems of urban Egypt On all sides and at alllevels the discussion is now considerably more practical andbetter informed than in 1983 The evaluation benefits from thisincreasingly sophisticated climate of discussion Converselyour presence the evaluation process and the information collected also contribute to this increasing maturity of thoughtand discussion
-6shy
--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
--
Neighborhood Urban Services Evaluation Project
Phase Two Report on District Contract Management and Maintenance
Executive Summary
December 1984
1 Introduction
The Neighborhood Urban Services Project includes an evaluation acttshyvity which is divided into three phases firstThe phase wascompleted in late 1983 and early 1984 This second phase began inSeptember 1984 and finished in December The purpose ot this secondphase is to generatv useful information and highlight important issuesin order to help NUS achieve its project goals by mid 1986
The Evaluation Team from the American University in Cairos SocialResearch Center (SKC) and from the International Science andTechnology Institute (ISTI) of Washington DC visited several urbandistricts of Cairo and Alexandria during October to study the issuesof contract management and maintenance ot NUS subprojects The teamis grateful for- the cooperation and help receivedwe from the manyofticials in the districts Their appreciation ot the usetulness ofthis work makes this report possible We also wish to express ourappreciation tor the azqtstance from AID project management and fromWilbur Smith Associates
The basic success ot the NUS Project in providing new and improvedtacilities tor urban services is well know Everything we saw duringthis current evaluation study confirms that the projects accomplishshyments are impressive
It is not our role during this middle phase ot the evaluation toeither praise or criticize the Project or any ot the parties involvedbut to contribute to Its continued success The nature ot this studyis to focus on real problems and consider practical solutions Ourunderstanding of the problems and possible solutions rests on thethoughtful analyses of oticials dealing with the issues in the tieldReal problems are by detinition complex and do not benefit fromsimplistic summary We present here sections ot the report which focus on the main technical and organization issues facing NUS Althoughthe issues and problems are well known presenting the differentfacets of them can help show the way towards at least partial solushytions and improvements
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
2 Three Critical Activities
Supervision design and malutenance proceedures are three critishycal problem areas which detract from the quality and durability of NUSsubprojects These activities are the focus of much of the technicalassistance to the project to date A review of these problems revealsthe complexity of the NUS task and helps provide a realistic basis forthe assessment whetherot current NUS programs are likely to improvesigniticantly the local capacity for project management by the time ofthe currently scheduled end of the NUS endeavor in 198b
Z1 Design
Problem
NUS calls for the design of about one thousand buildings andstructures of a certain size - ie at under LE 800UO (average LE3LUU) The evaluation team observed several projects designed in waysthat are inetficient inappropriate or inadequate In some cases oldstandard designs are used with little or no adaptation to the specialcircumstance or to recent changes in availability and prices ofmaterials The andplumbing electrical aspects of many designs areinadequate Often foundations are built to support future expansionthat may never take place at the expense of providing immediate badlyneeded extra rooms
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Technical skills Engineers are in short supply in the public secshytor Design engineers are particularly scarce At the district levelengineers generally lack the experience tor designing larger strucshytures At the governorate level some service directorates have designunits in their engineering departments but these ministries vary intheir degree of competence and creativity The Ministry ot Educationappears to thebe weakest Their standard designs are unimaginativeand under-detailed They regularly add classrooms to schools withoutexpanding the WC facilities The Ministry of Health generally respondsbetter and is more innovative in designing new clinics However the TAcontractor notes that the Ministry ot Healths record is less even thanEducations The Ministry of Health produces some of the best designedbuildings and some of the worst The design capabilities ot the govershynorate level service directorates also vary trom governorate to govershynorate Education is stronger in Alexandria than in Cairo In anycase the design work for NUS projects is rarely satisfactory It oftenconsists of very rough sketches with few dimensions The TA fieldengineer more often than not must help complete the designs
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
RESPONS I B I L I TY CHA I
KIEYT-rinci pal Responsi bil ity DISTRICT NUS FUNCTIONS
Exec + Pop Council I V Popular Council Final Approval
5 GovPopCouncil Approval I Popular Council
6 Design Costing I R C C
Minirectorate Utility Authority
C V
7 Bid Prep amp Advertising R C C
0 Bid Review R(Conmn titeeA
V
9 Bid Award amp Contract I R(Committee B
10 Site InspectionTurnover I R
11 Construction Start R
12 Progress Inspections I R
13 Progress Payments R C CV
14 Change Orders I R V
15 Change- Order Payments R _ -_- _
16 CompletionAcceptance I R V
17 User Acceptance I R service Dept Utility Authority
18 Acceptance Payment R V
19 Turnover to UserOampM IR C Service DeptUtility Authority
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
(b) Accountability Engineers are often reluctantsibility for to take responshydesigns of buildings simply because once the engineersname is signed to the design he or she may be held responsible for anyfuture mishap Consequently there is a strong tendency for engineerseven it competent to do design work to try to pass the task on to someone else
(b) Responsibility One ettect of NUS Project has been to diffusefurther the responsibity for design work The district engineers try toget the relevant service directorate toproject The send them a design for an NUSservice directorate design engineers arerespond since the often slow todistrict NUS project
priority list may not be high on theirThus it is not unusual to find one NUS clinic largelydesigned by the health directorate engineers and another NUS cliniclargely designed by the district engineer
Solutions
(a) Create a small design section in the district engineering officeThis would involve persuading the Ministry of Housing to shiftits better engineers to some ofwork in the districts Another solution wouldfor an intensive skillscall training program for engineers at the
district level
(b) Increase the design capacity in the most relevant service direcshytorates so that they can handle the increased demand from districts
(c) Contract out design work on major district sub-projects to privatefirms
(d) Create a small but elite mobile engineering unit in the directorateof housing to provide technical assistance to the districts similak tothe support the districts now receive from Wilbur Smith engineers
Prognosis
Overall the solution to the design problem depends on the futurearrangement the GOE has in mind for district level construction actishyvity After NUS will construction revert largely to the servicedirectorates or will the increased role of the district staffremaining legacy be aof NUS The work of the TA contractor to datetried in several ways to strengthen district has
design capacity and hasalso had some success in influencingvice
the design approach in some sershydirectorates The TA contractor has also encourageddistricts someto contract out some design work however it seemsthat districts unlikelywill do this for non-NUS work Nonetheless the NUS
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
experience is slowly having an impact upon the quality of design workin some districts - especially on some of the little details that canmake a big difference to the usability and durability of the structureCombinations of some of the above proposed solutions are doable and GOEengineers at both the local and governorate levels recognize theproblem and the possible solutions
22 Supervision
Problem
There is a chain of inadequate supervision thatrelatively begins with the workers by
low level of training and supervision of constructiontheir employers foLlowed by inadequate site inspection bythe district engineering staff and weak control over contractorslocal government This lack ot bysupervision is responsible for muchthe poor quality work ofwhich quickly becomes a maintenanceMost of problemthis relates to minor issues such asocassionally finishing butlack ot supervision results in possibly dangeroussituations
Analysis of the Problem
(a) Low skill levels of workers Due to out migration in recent yearsand to an expansion in domestic building constructionskilled competentand semi-skilled labor is currentlyThere is no reason at a premium in Egyptto assume that NUS contractors generally smallfirms because of the modest size of NUS subcontracts can hire and keepthe best in competition with larger firms building for the private secshytor
(b) Contractor supervision of laborers workers need
Less experienced constructionmore experienced and more vigilant supervisiondence is strong that this The evishyis (See
often not provided by NUS contractorssection Site Visit Observations)on It is reasonable to assumethat experienced foremen are also difficult to secure at present
(c) District engineers site inspectionsvisit construction District engineers do notsites often enough Legally a representative ofthe district engineering office is required to be present during cershytain critical proceedures such asthis the district
pouring concrete Generally forengineer does not go personally but sends a suborshydinate technician
The most often cited reason for the inadequate inspection visitsis the lack of transportation There are other factors District
-4shy
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
engineers expressed the view that it is the obligation of WSA engineersto supervise these NUS projects since they are highly paid while thedistrict engineers receive no extra pay for this extra work Engineersalso complain that their critical reviews of contractors are usuallynot acted upon by higher authorities
(d) The district government has difficulty excercising control over itscontractors who appear to have some political influence Also once a is expensive and difficult
contractor gets half way into a project it to rescind the contract and turn it over to another firm Moreoverother firms may refuse to take up such a job Overall it is this lackof district governments clout over contractors that creates a climateof lax supervision of daily construction work quality
Solutions
Most suggested solutions stress the transportation issuepersonnel often want The GOEAID to provide cars AID maintains that the GOEshould make its own plans to solve its transportation problemManagement has suggested to AID
the NUS Steering Committee that they shouldpurchase motorcycles with sidecars as an inexpensive way to get itsengineers to the field Engineers may feel that this is beneath theirprofessional dignity Nothing has been resolved on this
One partial solution that has been adopted is to write into thedistrict contract a clause that makes the contractor responsible fortransporting the GOE engineer to the site for inspection The engishyneers complain that this reduces what little clout they have over thecontractors and also gives the impression to others that they are underthe influence or in the pay of the contractor
Another solution is for the district to reimburse engineers fortaxi fare for site visits is no standard system that
This is done to a limited extent but there would encourage engineers to make anyextra site inspections
Prognosis
There is no simple solution to this problem of pervision TheTA contractor and AID project management are working solveto fouraspects of the problem First they are working with the districts toimprove the quality of the contractors selected to do district workmainly by weeding out those who have performed badlySecond they in the pasttoare trying address the transportation issue althoughmotorcycles looks like a non starter of a solution Third they aretrying to negotiate a system of incentives to recompense district engishy
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
neers for the additional NUS work This may help the NUS sub-projectsbut will not address the long term issue Fourth WSA engineers stressrepeatedly the importance of site inspection and set an example bytaking district engineers to the sites However these attempted solushytions are limited and not articulated as part of an agreed upon attack on the problem of construction supervision It is difficult to be optishymalstic that the situation will be improved in a permanent way by the end of NUS
23 Maintenance Procedu~res
Problem
It is no secret that maintenance is poorly performed on publicfacilities in much of Egypt Maintenance is complex in that itconsists of four different levels or activities (a) cleaning(b) routine repltcement and minor repair of fixtures (c)periodic structuril repairs and refinishing and (d) emergencyrepairs Furthermore ditferent kinds of facilities or systemshave -ery different maintenance requirements and very differentcontiequences should maintenance not be performed All servicedirectorates and districts have small maintenance budgets and some specialized units responsible for such work but generallythe budgets have long been woefully inadequate and the mainshytenance units understaffed The habit of deferring maintenance until the point of crisis is now ingrained
Analysis of the Problem
NUS projects are largely turned over to the appropriate sershyvice directorate for operation and hence maintenance yet the NUSmaintenance funds are distributed to the districts
Some NUS projects are additions to existing structures Doesthis mean that the four newer classrooms of a school will receivemaintenance while restthe of the building is allowed todeteriorate Or that one room will be painted out of one fund andanother room from another fund
Are NUS Maintenance funds to be used as part of a program ofpreventive maintenance (if there isso no program) for routinereplacement or saved for major structural repairs and refinishing
Because of the one year warranty period there should be noneed for maintenance during the first year Yet many buildings
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
are accepted In a less than finishedunable or unwilling to state and the Districts areforce the contractorstask to complete theThe result is that future maintenance problems are exacershybated by early neglect of minor details
The maintenance fund is provided bycontractual agreement with USAID for NUS the GOE as part of its
been slow to To date the GOE hasrelease these funds and relatively uninterestedtaking up the responsibility for maintenance in
Solutions
system to AID project management and the TA contractor are introducing aassure the maintenance of NUS structures anda systematic to providemeans of allocating funds fromtenance fund the overall mainshyto meet specific maintenance needsrational in that The system isach district
subprojects and will do a surveylist and cost of its NUSthe needed maintenance activitiesThis amount will then be requested from the fund and the Districtwill arrange for the work to be donebably Host districts will proshycontract out the work through a bidding process or havetheir annual contractor perform the work
Prognosis
Although this system will probably provide maintenance for NUSprojects for a few years neither this system norgeneral is the TA work indoing much to institutionalize maintenance systems of preventivefor District constructionexception projectsis the TA contractors work regarding
(An important of heavy equipment) the maintenance
Nor do westrengthening see a program aimedthe districts atcapability of handling emergencymaintenance
Maintenance is one area in means which NUS is exploring alternativeHowever the alternate means must bein order that they do not
carefullyt assessedweaken the GOEs institutional capacityfor maintenance by setting up a temporary alternate system outshyside of the normal channels (which exists but is short ofresources)
AID project management and the TA contractorthe nature of the are very aware ofproblem and plancomprehensive to address itway during in a morethe next phase of decentralizationprogramming under NUS
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
3 Four Organizational Issues
The evaluation team examined ten components which are criticalto the funtioning of large and complex organizations Four ofthese components merit special consideration regarding NUS
31 Linkages
NUS has focused on improving vertical linkages between thegovernorate and the district chiefs and to a lesser degree betshyween the governorate level directorates of ministries and theirdistrict level departments The weakness of NUS to date is thatit has had inadequate impact upon improving the horizontal linkashyges within the district organization Most service departmentpersonnel identify with their ministry more than with theirdistrict The ministry is the source of salary promotion andprofessional pride and recognition when that exists On the otherhand strong district chiefs are able to counteract the centrifushygal tendency of the service departments to some degree
Several acLivities and factors could improve horizontal linkages and a seose of district unity
Because the district chief is pivotal this problem can bepartly addressed as another item on the agenda of a managementworkshop The TA contractor in the Mid-Project Report (draft)states the intention to morefocus attention on the districtchief in this regard during the remainder of NUS
Weak Horizontal linkages also respond to team buildingtype workshops Although our two district debriefingminiworkshops were not designed as team building activities groupdiscussions of issues cleared some misunderstandings amongdistrict staff and resolved some problems of horizontal comshymunication Much more could be done along these lines usingrelatively modest training resources
Some districts have managed to get all or most of thedepartments under one roof In other districts they are scatshytered in separate buildings often quite distant If the GOE isserious about an increasingly active and coordinated role fordistrict government spatial consolidation could be a long term goal
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
0 14
1
C4C
14
- Q (p c t k q r -5
rl -I 4
I_i4(-4
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
32 Motivation
This is a well known major problem facing allpublic bureaucracy In Egypt (and elsewhere) branches of theJobs are secure Salariesand advancement are lowis more by seniority
performance than by
NUS addresses this problem largely by tryingdistribution of the incentive fund to negotiate theby the GOE Like the mainshygation of the COE to
tenance fund the incentive fund is part of the contractual obli-NUS andthis obligation the GOE has been slow toAlthough fulfildefray these incentivesome of the payments willcomplaints of helpNUS overworklittle too toolate and they aretoo temporary to have a major impact on themorale of district staff
Good managers have a number of meansto increase the motivation of their people (positive and negative)awards personal compliments making
- recognition throughmeaningful tasks morenegative interesting andperformanceinformal reports hearings etcmanagement workshop for district chiefs could encourage
Anthem to list formulate and discuss the pros andcombinations of these positive cons of betterand negative management tools 33 Systems and Procedures
This is the tive
area where the TA has been most active and most effec-A number of engineering andduced and accountingthese formsare being used have beenfor all introshyoften being used the NUS subprojectsby the district as well asfor its own non-NUS budgetprojects and
To what extent does NUS buildforms and thereby weaken a separate system of procedures andthe GOE organization in theactually strengthen the organizations long run orexisting procedures
In some instances the newlong been procedureson the are not by insisting
books of the GOE regulations new at all but have
that they NUS strengthens thesebe followedgeneral obligations In other instanceson paper which had there wereand implemented There Is never until NUS been specifiedbecause other reportingof the thatneed is uniqueof AID to to NUSaccountfunds forSo far the the expenditureNUS procedures of itsinsists are followedupon it becauseThere Wilbur Smithis some evidencesenior GOE officials that governorsare coming to and otherdures and will appreciate the systems and proceshythemselves insist upon them after the departure of theTA contractor
-9shy
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
34 Objectives
The NUS process has helped local government firm up its objectivesof providing services to people in the form of increased public facishylities and increased responsiveness to local needs There is a longway to go before there is aggreement on the practical objectives ofdistrict level government versus governorate and national ministeriallevels The continuing dialogue of governorate and district officialswith AID management and the TA contractor is contributing toclarifying these objectives Senior governorate officials have come toappreciate and rely upon aspects of the NUS approach The SRC intershyviews in the districts exhibit a striking improvement in the practicalattitudes of district staff regarding their overall task and what theyneed to accomplish it
In the Phase I-evaluation report ISTISRC noted that the objecshytives of NUS in terms of capacity building or decentralization ofactivities are not spelled out with specifications NUIS has now built up credibility The AID Mission and the GOE are currently embarkingupon negotiations regarding the future (post NUS) urban developmentand decentralization projects This provides an appropriate opporshytunity for spelling out practical objectives What is expected to bein place at the time of phaseover to the next round of projects Whattasks are expected to be carried out by what level of government at what level of efficiency
General issues such as local revenue generation and budget distrishybution also need discussion
4 CONCLUSIONS
Most of the issues mentioned above suggest various lines of actionfor improving the situations By way of conclusion let us review the most important issues and necessary solutions
41 Maintenance
First those maintenance funds that have been released to thedistricts must be applied in a systematic way to NUS subprojects inneed of work It seems that this is beginning to happen through the use of the new maintenance checklist It should continue
Second more specitic plans must be made for the future use of the maintenance fund
-10shy
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
Third the TA Contractor has recently added course onMaintenance to aits package of training program This is important and
should be supported
42 Incentive Fund
This is a difficult issue however it is imperative that an effecshytive program of incentives for district personnel working on NUS beput An place At the same time it is remarked that incentivepayments alone will not solve a motivation problem
43 Workshops
Management Workshops in the district can help solve problems ofweak organizational linkages motivation and objectives Combinedwith the training and technical assistance already in place they canadd to the effectiveness of local units
44 Objectives and Phaseover Plans
As part of the planning for the next phase of AID urban projectsa plan and timetable for phasing NUS Into this next set of activitiesshould be drawn up as a guideline Such a guideline should attempt todescribe what responsibilities and tasks should be assigned to whichlevel of urban government It should lay out a process for phasing outor changing the role of foreign technical assistance
