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Integrated Urban Development Sector Project :  Tonga :Go to Project Summary

Integrated Urban Development Sector Project :  Tonga

Timetable  |  Project Outcome  |  Implementation Progress  |  Status of Covenants

Grant Name Integrated Urban Development Sector Project
Country Tonga
Grant Number 0108
Project Number 38160- 03
Source of Funding/Amount[Approved]
Asian Development Fund US$11.30  million
Thematic Classification Capacity Development
Economic growth
Sector/Subsector Water and Other Municipal Infrastructure and Services / Urban Sector Development
Description The overall impact of the Project is to improve environmental quality and public health in Nuku'alofa through improved urban infrastructure. The focus will be on improvement of delivery of urban services to the poor and vulnerable in urban and peri-urban areas. The outcome of the project will be the establishment or improvement of high-priority infrastructure projects, such as roads and drains. The project will include (i) verification of detailed locations for the proposed infrastructure subprojects, (ii) design and installation of the infrastructure, (iii) capacity building and monitoring, and (iv) training of operators. The key overall outcomes will be (i) improved living conditions in urban and peri-urban areas and (ii) improved and better-coordinated urban planning and management.

Specific outputs include (i) improved roads and drains in the urban area; (ii) a major new drain to serve a low-lying inundated part of the urban area; (iii) capacity building in preventative maintenance.

The project will include construction of key infrastructure subprojects, and will ensure that they are sustainable through the establishment of maintenance funds and cost-recovery mechanisms, as well as training of operators and maintenance personnel. The project is expected to result in the establishment of a new urban planning and management unit.

With a focus on low-income areas, the proposed project will have substantial poverty reduction effects through improved living conditions, creation of bankable assets for the poor, and on-the-job training through employment opportunities related to project construction.
Project Outcome
Outcome Progress Toward Outcome
The Project will improve urban infrastructure and enhance urban sustainability by supporting implementation of planning and urban management legislation as well as urban planning and management capacity building. Civil work has progressed well on two major Road/Drain/Footpath subprojects (Sopu & Popua roads works and R1R2R3 road/darin/footpath works) awarded in January 2011 and contractors mobilised in March 2011. The project office has also been able to identify and prepare other non core subprojects prioritized by the Project Steering Committee. Works on various components of the project are progressing as follows: 1) Sopu Drainage Channel- the detailed design work completed but was dropped due to inresolved land issue, 2)procurement of the jet vac and street sweeper (completed), 3)construction of monitoring wells (completed), 4) water quality monitoring (ongoing), 5)drain cleaning (completed), 6)drain cover repair (completed), 6) Upgrade of Acess Roads Sopu/Popua is essentially complete, and 7) The upgrading of primary road/drain/footpath in central Nuku'alofa is slowly progressing and contractor has asked for an extension of the contract for 4 months. Projct will closely monitor progress till July before deciding on contractor's request. Also package 1 under Noncore componenet has been awarded and contractor mobilized in March 2012. Package 2 Noncore subproject tender closed on 24 April and currently in the Bid Evaluation process. Contract award has been slow but this is speeding up as contracts for Noncore subprojects are advertised and awarded. Disbursement is also expected to improve as progress in made under the Primary Roads subproject and the newly awarded non-core packages.
Implementation Progress
Outputs Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities and Issues)
The Project will provide for the following:
(i) Roads. Rehabilitating approximately 20 kilometers (km) of primary roads, including road drainage, constructing 4 km of all weather access roads in low-income residential areas, and developing a preventive road maintenance program.
(ii) Drainage. Rehabilitating all existing drains in Nuku'alofa's central business areas (CBA), constructing 2.1 km of flood relief drains, and developing a stormwater drainage maintenance program.
(iii) Sanitation. Constructing eight groundwater monitoring wells and monitoring of groundwater quality.
(iv) Candidate subprojects. Constructing candidate subprojects selected following the selection criteria. 		i) Road Rehabilitation works continuing. Access roads in Sopu/Popua are nearing completion.
ii) Special drain cleaning equipment procured. Drainage rehabilitation and drain cover replacement works completed in 2011.
iii) Construction of monitoring wells completed in 2010. Regular water testing continues.
iv) Non-core project packages designed and approved. Contract for the first of the 3 packages awarded and contractor mobilized. Bids for the second non-core package were opened on 24 April 2012. BER being prepared. Contract likely to be awarded in May 2012.
Geographical Location Kingdom of Tonga
Safeguard Categories Safeguard Categories explained (Launches new browser window)
  Environment B
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects
Environmental Aspects The Project is classified as environmental category B. An initial environmental examination (IEE) has been prepared in accordance with ADBs Environment Policy (2002) and Environmental Assessment Guidelines (2003), and a summary IEE is attached as Appendix 11. The Governments environmental requirements, as set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (2003), have also been taken into account. Consultations with stakeholders were undertaken while preparing the IEE to ensure their concerns will be adequately addressed and incorporated in the project design.
Stakeholder Communication, Participation and Consultation
During Project Design A highly participatory approach was employed to prepare the Project, and consultations with stakeholders were conducted throughout Tonga. The social
assessment component was based on (i) 16 workshops that included altogether more than 300 participants on community needs assessment and involved particular interest groups, women, youth, and community leaders, as well as church leaders in 'Eua, Ha'apai, Tongatapu, and Vava'u; and (ii) a socioeconomic survey of 431 randomly selected households in Nuku'alofa. A report on the results of the consultations is given in Supplementary Appendix A
During Project Implementation In designing each sub project component the PIU engages in consultation with the relevant stakeholders so that problems do not arise when the subprojects gets to the implementation stage. Quartely project reports are produced and distributed to the stakeholders as well after the Project Steering committes approval.
Responsible ADB Officer Alain Goffeau
Vijay Narayan
Responsible ADB Department Pacific Department
Responsible ADB Division Pacific Subregional Office
Pacific Operations Division
Timetable
Concept Clearance 25 Aug 2004
Fact-finding 11 Apr 2007 to 20 Apr 2007
Board Approval 27 May 2008
CLOSING
Grant No. Approval Signing Effectivity Original Revised Actual

Financing Plan Top Grant Utilization
  TOTAL ( Amount in US$ million)
Project Cost 11.30
ADB 11.30
Counterpart 0.00
Cofinancing 0.00
Date ADB OTHERS Net Percentage
Cumulative Contract Awards
Cumulative Disbursements
Top Status of Covenants
Category Sector Social Financial Economic Others Safe
Rating Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory
© 2008 Asian Development Bank

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