Timor-Leste’s independence from Indonesia in 1999 was followed by a conflict that resulted in massive internal displacements and damage to infrastructure. Restoration of roads became critical to enable the return of the displaced population and the resumption of economic activity. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) took the lead in implementing infrastructure restoration activities. Building on the achievements and lessons from preceding projects, it approved in November 2009 a grant of $46 million for the Road Network Development Sector Project.
The project’s envisaged impact was poverty reduction through economic growth. Its expected outcome was expanded access to social and economic facilities through increased mobility. It had seven planned outputs: (i) national roads improved to a maintainable condition; (ii) road maintenance program established; (iii) border posts constructed in four sites; (iv) improved capacity of national contractors to implement road rehabilitation and maintenance works; (v) improved Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI) capacity to manage road projects and road maintenance program; (vi) improved awareness of road safety among communities in the project areas; and (vii) climate-proofing of road rehabilitation and maintenance.
At project completion, 37.6 kilometers (km) of national roads were rehabilitated. This was remarkably short of the 232-km appraisal target. The reduction was caused by significant increases in construction costs due to the need to comply with the standards set by Timor-Leste’s newly-adopted Strategic Development Plan (SDP), 2011−2030. Despite the reduction, the project’s road improvement component, the first to apply the SDP standards for improving core national roads, provided the template for core national roads’ improvement across the country. The resulting road was wide enough to safely allow two-lane traffic with high riding quality and reduced vehicle operating costs. This road improvement strategy was adopted in subsequent projects by ADB and development partners.
A road maintenance program (RMP) and operations manual were prepared and piloted on a 41.25 km-project road where both rehabilitation and maintenance costs can be covered by the component allocation. At appraisal, 188 km of roads were targeted for maintenance; however, as most roads were below maintainable condition, necessitating reconstruction before starting the RMP, the scope was reduced for the component to remain within the funding envelope.
The border post component was cancelled as the project could not comply with government request to fast track, through noncompetitive bidding, the construction of access roads and parking lots for the border facilities it wanted to be completed ahead of schedule. Training sessions were conducted for local contractors and the Directorate of Roads, Bridges and Flood Control (DRBFC) staff on contract management, ADB bidding documents, and quality control of construction materials. Larger drainage structures were built into the project roads to make them more resilient to climate change impacts.
Significant output shortfalls versus appraisal targets made the project less than effective. Nevertheless, as there was an increase in rural mobility from 21% in 2007 to 49% in 2015, as indicated by the World Bank’s Rural Access Index, it is likely that the project achieved its intended outcome and contributed to the decline in poverty in Timor-Leste from 49% in 2007 to 39% in 2014.
MOI was the project executing agency. The project management unit of two earlier ADB-assisted road projects was retained as implementing agency.
