Case Studies

Case Study 1: Role of Information for Rural Transport Planning in Colombia

This case study analyses the use of information in a rural transport policy-planning process. It is based on the experience of Ana Maria Urwin, who worked for two and a half years (1998 - 2000) in the Transport Division at the National Planning Department (NPD) in Colombia. The NPD is responsible for the design, monitoring and evaluation of the social, environmental, economic and political development policies. The Transport Division is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the national policies in all transport subsectors (ports, rails, roads, etc.) and designing strategies for their improvement, although its main focus is on infrastructure development. The Division organises its work around three main tasks: policy planning, budget programming and project management.

In rural transport, the focus of the policy planning process over the last few years has been the decentralisation of the road network. This process has involved the continuous review of its approach and the redefinition of the strategies for implementation. The decentralisation policy is based on a Constitutional mandate and in the road sector it has been motivated by financial issues. The review of this policy has focused on the evaluation of the financial capacity of central and local governments for the maintenance of the road sector. For this, the Division has undertaken analysis on the conditions of the road infrastructure, and the investment needs and resources for its maintenance. These analyses are based on information provided by specialised government departments on roads conditions, cost evaluations and budgetary structure. The approach has been governed by policy guidelines, internal meetings and consultant reports.

In July 2000, the analyses showed that there was not reliable information about the conditions and needs of the road infrastructure at the regional level. The analysis was based on general estimates of conditions and costs. In the case of the budgetary structure, due to the diversity of financials sources at the regional level, it was not possible to obtain an exact indication of the resources available for investment on rural roads. In general, the information used at the national level was based on estimations of rural transport needs. The majority of policy decisions assumed general patterns for the evaluation of needs at the rural level. In some cases, specific analyses were undertaken by external consultants, but this was not a systematic process and the results were not always useful or implemented.

The annual process of budget programming involves the analysis, prioritisation and allocation of national investment resources. This process is based on the analysis of investment projects presented by government departments to the NPD. The Transport Division is responsible for the technical analysis of these projects and the allocation of the available resources among them. The project description forms, investment shares and general policy guidelines were the basic inputs for this analysis. Nevertheless, in order to be able to apply a technical criterion to these projects, the Division needed information about previous investments, investment needs and economic and social evaluation. In most of the cases this information was not available and the resources were allocated in order to meet previous financial commitments or to finalise projects under implementation.

The Transport Division is also responsible for the project management of specific high priority activities. In the case of rural transport, one is these activities is promoting private investment in rural roads. These projects are generally developed with the support of international donor organisations, such as the World Bank, and follow the general guidelines set by them. These process involve contracting out private consultants to undertake analysis on different topics and provide recommendations. In some cases, the consultant reports were not used, due to a change in the government priorities or because they failed to provide suitable information.

The Transport Division bases its activities on the ability of other institutions (public and private) to provide reliable information on different issues. This analysis shows that the information needed by the Transport Division is not completely available and that the information used is not accurate. Some main points can be concluded from this analysis:

• At the national level there is lack of reliable information about the conditions and needs of rural transport infrastructure.
  
• There is no integrated information on local government resources for rural transport infrastructure.
  
• In most cases, the allocation of national investment resources for rural transport infrastructure is based on weak social and economic assessments, and does not consider previous or future investments.
  
• The work undertaken by consultants and contractors is not always a source of reliable or useful information for the policy-making process.

The points above show that the Division of Transport has difficulties in the formulation and implementation of adequate policies in rural transport.