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WORLD BANK APPROVES $45 MILLION FOR LIFELINE ROAD NETWORK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT FOR ARMENIA
YEREVAN, February 1, /ARKA/. The World Bank Board of Executive
Directors approved January 31 a $45 million loan for the Lifeline
Road Network Improvement Project (LRNIP) for Armenia to assist the
government of Armenia in its on-going efforts to further improve
accessibility through the rehabilitation of 170 km of the lifeline
road network of the country, and create employment mostly for rural
population, the World Bank said in a press release. It will also help
Armenia to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Transport and
Communication (MoTC) to manage the lifeline road network.
"Despite visible improvement since 2009, about 50 percent of lifeline
roads in Armenia remain in poor condition and there is still an
important investment backlog for rehabilitation and maintenance. The
degraded part of the Lifeline Road Network (LRN) causes high transport
costs and prolonged journey times for road users, thus restricting the
connectivity to key markets such as agriculture, and basic services
such as health and education, as well as negatively affecting the
country's competitiveness,' the press release said.
"As in the case of the original project, rehabilitation of additional
lifeline roads would create temporary jobs in rural areas, and improve
access to basic social services," said Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank
Country Manager for Armenia." The project will also improve market
connectivity for rural areas and build upon the ongoing efforts to
strengthen the basis for growth and competitiveness in needy
communities."
Since the launch of the Lifeline Road Improvement Project (LRIP) in
2009, there have been noticeable improvements in local employment,
journey time reduced on average by 40 percent. The LRIP is
rehabilitating about 11 percent of the lifeline network and has
demonstrated the importance of roads to the rural population along
with economic gains, which can be made from improved connectivity. The
World Bank-financed LRIP for the total amount of US$101.6 million has
already upgraded 433 km of lifeline roads across the regions. In
addition, more than 39,000 person-months of local jobs were created,
which also supported local employment in construction when the economy
was suffering from the recent crisis.
"The sections of rehabilitated network help farmers and small
businesses in rural areas to bring their produce to market more easily
and at a lower cost," added Vickram Cuttaree, Head of the World Bank
project team. "The civil works will start in spring. The project will
also support the Government efforts to improve the sustainability of
public investment through the use of more efficient contracts and
improvement of MoTC management of the lifeline road network."
The LRNIP has two main components. First, it will support lifeline
road improvement with rehabilitation of 170 km of roads, located
across the regions. Around 73 km (seven road segments) will be
improved in 31 communities in Aragatsotn, Armavir, Gegharquniq,
Kotaik, Lori and Siuniq marzes throughout the first year of
implementation, and serve around 70,000 people. Several innovative
pilot contracts will be introduced, including the combination of
rehabilitation and routine maintenance in a single contract and the
use of micro-enterprises for basic routine maintenance. A strong
emphasis is put on ensuring that resources are allocated to
maintenance and that routine maintenance, which is the cheapest and
most critical type of maintenance, is done on more kilometers of
roads.
In addition, a technical assistance component will strengthen MoTC
capacity to manage road assets, support several road safety measures,
assess the feasibility of performance based contracts, support the
development of a road sector financing plan, and monitor social
indicators and issues in areas where roads have been improved.
The LRNIP will also continue supporting the "Safe Village" program
through small road safety civil works combined with awareness
campaigns at community level. Under LRIP the village of Gyulagarak was
selected as the first pilot for a "Safe Village" program and a
combination of traffic control measures, footway construction, and an
education program in the village school have been implemented. The
LRNIP will implement at least four safe villages. In addition, all
road rehabilitation will incorporate safety features and efficient
design standards.
The IBRD Specific Investment Loan (SIL) has a maturity of 25 years
including a grace period of 10 years.
Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
to Armenia total approximately US$1,669,6 million. -0-
YEREVAN, February 1, /ARKA/. The World Bank Board of Executive
Directors approved January 31 a $45 million loan for the Lifeline
Road Network Improvement Project (LRNIP) for Armenia to assist the
government of Armenia in its on-going efforts to further improve
accessibility through the rehabilitation of 170 km of the lifeline
road network of the country, and create employment mostly for rural
population, the World Bank said in a press release. It will also help
Armenia to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Transport and
Communication (MoTC) to manage the lifeline road network.
"Despite visible improvement since 2009, about 50 percent of lifeline
roads in Armenia remain in poor condition and there is still an
important investment backlog for rehabilitation and maintenance. The
degraded part of the Lifeline Road Network (LRN) causes high transport
costs and prolonged journey times for road users, thus restricting the
connectivity to key markets such as agriculture, and basic services
such as health and education, as well as negatively affecting the
country's competitiveness,' the press release said.
"As in the case of the original project, rehabilitation of additional
lifeline roads would create temporary jobs in rural areas, and improve
access to basic social services," said Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank
Country Manager for Armenia." The project will also improve market
connectivity for rural areas and build upon the ongoing efforts to
strengthen the basis for growth and competitiveness in needy
communities."
Since the launch of the Lifeline Road Improvement Project (LRIP) in
2009, there have been noticeable improvements in local employment,
journey time reduced on average by 40 percent. The LRIP is
rehabilitating about 11 percent of the lifeline network and has
demonstrated the importance of roads to the rural population along
with economic gains, which can be made from improved connectivity. The
World Bank-financed LRIP for the total amount of US$101.6 million has
already upgraded 433 km of lifeline roads across the regions. In
addition, more than 39,000 person-months of local jobs were created,
which also supported local employment in construction when the economy
was suffering from the recent crisis.
"The sections of rehabilitated network help farmers and small
businesses in rural areas to bring their produce to market more easily
and at a lower cost," added Vickram Cuttaree, Head of the World Bank
project team. "The civil works will start in spring. The project will
also support the Government efforts to improve the sustainability of
public investment through the use of more efficient contracts and
improvement of MoTC management of the lifeline road network."
The LRNIP has two main components. First, it will support lifeline
road improvement with rehabilitation of 170 km of roads, located
across the regions. Around 73 km (seven road segments) will be
improved in 31 communities in Aragatsotn, Armavir, Gegharquniq,
Kotaik, Lori and Siuniq marzes throughout the first year of
implementation, and serve around 70,000 people. Several innovative
pilot contracts will be introduced, including the combination of
rehabilitation and routine maintenance in a single contract and the
use of micro-enterprises for basic routine maintenance. A strong
emphasis is put on ensuring that resources are allocated to
maintenance and that routine maintenance, which is the cheapest and
most critical type of maintenance, is done on more kilometers of
roads.
In addition, a technical assistance component will strengthen MoTC
capacity to manage road assets, support several road safety measures,
assess the feasibility of performance based contracts, support the
development of a road sector financing plan, and monitor social
indicators and issues in areas where roads have been improved.
The LRNIP will also continue supporting the "Safe Village" program
through small road safety civil works combined with awareness
campaigns at community level. Under LRIP the village of Gyulagarak was
selected as the first pilot for a "Safe Village" program and a
combination of traffic control measures, footway construction, and an
education program in the village school have been implemented. The
LRNIP will implement at least four safe villages. In addition, all
road rehabilitation will incorporate safety features and efficient
design standards.
The IBRD Specific Investment Loan (SIL) has a maturity of 25 years
including a grace period of 10 years.
Since joining the World Bank in 1992 and IDA in 1993, the commitments
to Armenia total approximately US$1,669,6 million. -0-