reaffirm maintenance of the national road network as the best value for money use of TSSP resources and, within this, emphasise national priority roads as the program’s main land component priority. Recent moves toward using TSSP resources to support ‘high impact, complex capital works’ should be reversed until there is genuine evidence that the PNG Government is able to look after routine maintenance of existing land transport infrastructure. Agree Maintenance of PNG’s priority national road network will remain the program’s main priority in the land transport sector. This has been reflected in the current program workplan. provide a stable and predictable source of multi-year funding for road maintenance. Agree with qualification Program budgets can only be determined subject to annual appropriations and in response to Commonwealth priorities.
fund an independent expenditure tracking study in the roads sector (as has already been undertaken in the health and education sectors) to address the lack of reliable information on the focus of spending on roads by different levels of Government in PNG. This would be in addition to, and supportive of, TSSP’s continued efforts to increase transparency of PNG’s expenditure on its road network. Post will commence discussions with the Government of New Guinea on funding an independent expenditure tracking survey before the end of 2017. Recommendation 2 To provide reliable capacity for network planning, monitoring and decision support, DFAT should seek agreement with DoWI that TSSP will fund and be held accountable for: collecting routine information on road, bridge and traffic conditions for the national network. Agree Post will commence discussions on how the program can take a more direct role in data collection and management with the Government of Papua New Guinea before the end of 2017.
developing and operating RAMS/BAMS functions to support DoWI and DoTI decision-making, including an enhanced ability to prioritise treatments to prevent damage from flooding. Agree We will work with the Government of Papua New Guinea to ensure this is appropriately captured in asset management systems and processes for prioritising works. Recommendation 3 TSSP should require Project Management Consultants to prepare a plan for strengthening local contractor capabilities under TSSP’s annual program of works, especially those carried out using pro forma contracts. A similar program of work continuity and mentoring focused on small-scale should be considered in conjunction with maintenance contracts in targeted national road corridors. The program remains an active supporter of the Government of Papua New Guinea’s Road Construction Industry Strategy. The program will build on this support by developing an enhanced plan to strengthen small-scale local contractors by mid-2018. This will include an enhanced role for the Program’s Project Management Consultants. Recommendation 4 To improve value for money from its physical works program, TSSP should: scale
increase its focus on demonstrating the benefits of optimal life-cycle maintenance for a more limited number of national road corridors and with greater priority given to long-term, performance-based maintenance projects. Agree The program’s current workplan reflects an increased focus on a more limited number of national road corridors. Post will pilot use of maintenance contracts through its future works program. mandate cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of high cost projects which reduce the availability of funds for maintenance of roads that might otherwise become impassable, and require the CBA to take this opportunity cost into account. Agree We agree that cost-benefit analysis (CBA) should play a key role in the prioritisation of major projects. It is important that such analysis is considered in the context of other factors such as social outcomes and interregional equity alongside government priorities. develop and use simplified criteria generated by RAMS as the basis for more transparent decisions on what treatment to implement and what form of contract to adopt. Agree based
ensure that the program’s gender equality targets are transparent and reported against. Agree The program is on to finalise a new safeguard strategy in early 2018 that will incorporate gender equity targets. These targets will be reported on through the Annual Program Performance Report. address the road safety risks identified by road safety surveys, but with better monitoring of impacts. Agree with qualification the scale of road safety challenges in PNG, efforts to fully address risks will inevitably be limited by resourcing constraints. However, TSSP does factor appropriate road safety treatments into its planned works program and will strengthen monitoring and evaluation of this work to ensure it achieves greater visibility. Recommendation 5 To strengthen the basis for mutual accountability and transparency over PNG Government commitments, TSSP should: