Engineer Said Abdo Ahmed: Increasing women participation, as well as job creation for IDPs and the poorest segment of society, is a priority that everyone must adhere to.
The PWP Implementation Unit held an expanded meeting with the contracting sector in Yemen. With 200 participants representing contracting and construction companies and offices from all over the country, the PWP kicked off the meeting under the motto "Contractors are the PWP's Main Partners".
The meeting aimed at presenting the objectives of the Yemen Emergency Crises Response Project (YECRP), which is funded by the World Bank through the UNDP in Yemen. It also aimed to enhance women participation, give guidance on participation in tenders, procedures in project implementation, monitoring and quality controls and the activation of the grievance system (complaint system) for communities and the emergency program.
During the opening session of the expanded meeting, the PWP director, Engineer Saeed Abdo Ahmed praised the positive and strategic partnership between the PWP and the contracting sector in Yemen. He said this partnership has been built through years of joint activities in services and development areas.
The project director confirmed that the success of the PWP, and reaching a leading level as one of the most efficient national institutions which has gained the trust of local and external donors, is the fruit of a successful partnership based on integrity and transparency in working together, good performance and quality implementation of projects.
He pointed out that the main objective of the meeting is to introduce the YECRP which is financed by the World Bank through the UNDP in Yemen.
He added that YECRP aims to provide urgent assistance to communities impacted by the current crises, especially those affected by displacement of people in conflict areas where services have been disrupted.
Engineer Ahmed explained that the focus will be on providing jobs for IDPs and poor segments of society. The agreement is that the UNDP will have oversight responsibilities over the project, while the PWP and the Social Development Fund (SDF) will be responsible for direct implementation of project components.
The project director said serving communities through provision and support of infrastructure is the responsibility of the PWP. PWP will support infrastructure of various services, such as water supply for rural communities. This will be achieved by building rainwater harvesting reservoirs, protection walls for agricultural land, water irrigation channels, stone pavement of rural roads and streets, as well as rehabilitation and restoration of schools used by IDPs, and water and sewage services delivery.
In his closing remarks, Engineer Saeed Abdo Ahmed stressed on the need to engage women and to hire the biggest number of workers, especially IDPs, the poor and marginalized groups.
Objectives and Components
Engineer Ibtehal Abdul-Rasoul, the investment planner in the PWP, reviewed the objectives and the components of the YECRP. She also presented a brief description of the components which will be implemented by the PWP.
Engineer Abdul-Rasoul said serving the community through support for infrastructure is the responsibility of the PWP and, through this, infrastructure for various services will be supported, including provision of water supply to rural communities by building rainwater harvesting reservoirs, construction of agricultural land protection and retention walls, building irrigation channels, stone pavements of road and streets, renovations of school buildings used by IDPs, and provision of water and sanitation services.
She said, the PWP plans to select and implement projects based on priorities set by the communities. These will be small projects, the cost of which, shall not exceed $100,000 in areas mentioned earlier.
Engineer Abdul-Rasoul added that the projects will be offered through tenders to be implemented by local contractors within a period not to exceed six months. The aim is to provide urgent services to IDPs and communities affected by internal displacement.
Indicators
Engineer Ibethal Abdul-Rasoul stressed that there is a set of conditions that must be met during implementation of projects. Most importantly, that the percentage of wages shouldn't be less than 35% of the project cost and that the share of direct beneficiaries from jobs created in the project shall be at least 50%. Another condition is that the workers should be residents in the target areas and that IDPs and or returnees make up at least 30% of the total project workforce. There are no requirement concerning workers’ skills.
Women Participation
The gender officer in the PWP, Engineer Shafiqah al-Rajami discussed the importance of community participation and employment of women to ensure sustainability for projects. She said, this can only be attained through community participation in all stages of the project’s life cycle, including the participation of women, as well as the creation of as many job opportunities as possible - for both skilled and unskilled labor, and the provision of basic services to the most needy groups.
She confirmed that the community participation mechanism in the Gender Unit projects includes participation in the identification of needs and priorities, in project selection, establishment of committees and associations, awareness activities, linkages between the community and other stakeholders and increase of engagement and cohesion between the beneficiaries.
Instructions for Tenders
Engineer Naif al-Humaidi, assistant manager in the Tenders Department, reviewed instructions for bidding in tenders. These include information on site visits before writing a proposal and prior knowledge of sources for materials, challenges of implementation, transport, time frame and labor…etc. He noted the importance of presenting valid legal and qualification documents, touched upon the requirements, the basis for qualification standards and award regulations, and gave remarks on how to prepare and present bids.
Engineer al-Humaidi added that, in the event of wining the bid on more than one project – the maximum is two project for each contractor at any given time, the contractor has to prove financial capability, or banking facilitations (such as bank loans or credit) equal to at least 25% of the total value of all bids awarded. He said the contractor should also present other documents that show qualifications and technical capacity, including technical staff and equipment, for the implementation of the awarded projects at the same time. A contractor should also attach to the bid documents a bank statement or a photocopy of annual financial statements.
Engineer al-Humaidi confirmed that if a contractor is already working in a contract with the PWP and is facing delays in implementation, the contractor will be excluded from bidding for new projects if the delay exceeds 20% of the original time frame for a given project.
He pointed out that there are requirements that contractors must abide by when preparing and presenting bid documents. Most importantly, the receipt for buying the bid documents must be in the name of the contractor, the bid should include a bid security and must mention the name of the project, the name of the contractor and signature and seal should be affixed on all pages of the bid.
Environmental Impact and Tree Planting
On the same subject, Engineer Abdul-Wali al-Shami presented a working paper on the significance of environmental impact and tree planting. The paper stressed how important it is that contractors abide by regulations, such as fencing the site using zinc sheets or wood…etc, especially in work areas close to inhabited buildings, the building of a temporary latrine for workers, a temporary room built from zinc sheets, wood or cement bloc for workers and engineers to be used during the construction phase. Materials should be separated and easily accessible (gravel, sand, cement and steels…etc). There should be ample corridor space for free movement in the site. In addition, the contractor should adhere to guidelines on hazardous material storage ( Dynamite, Propane…etc), in tightly closed areas accessible to authorized personnel only, and should be removed far from the workers’ congregation area.
Engineer al-Shami stressed the need for contractors to commit to cleaning and clearing the site on a daily basis. All small chips of woods and other residue must be removed in a proper manner (by burning or burying them underground) in allowable areas. All problems from the residents, which may arise during implementation, must be addressed using all means available in coordination with the local council and the PWP's sub-district manager.
Implementation Procedures
For his part, the deputy director of the PWP, First District Manager, Engineer Abdul-Salam Qassim reviewed the most important procedures to be followed during implementation. He noted the most important procedures, such as implementation schedule as a legal document and a major requirement for the singing of the contract. He said this is a legal document and an implementation plan for the various stages of the work. He also mentioned that contractors must fill out a form on the technical apparatus, showing the full address, total number of technical and managerial staff – engineer, resident technician and other personal. In addition, the contractor should be aware of the functions of the staff engineer : preparation of the implementation schedule, sign alongside the contractor, participates in taking over the site, study plans and bill of quantity and conform them to the site after taking over the site.
The deputy director of the PWP also stressed the need of conforming to project documents (drawing, bills of quantity, specifications) to discover if there are any major deviations between them and the project site, as well as ensuring sufficiency of materials to cover the required works, especially excavation works, type of soil and slope of the project site.
Engineer Abdul-Salam Qassim also confirmed that the objective of disbursing the advance payment is to support the contractor to buy and secure the most important materials for the implementation of the work and to transport them to the site, and not for any other purpose.
He added that 40% of the project cost should be allocated to cover workers' wages, and noted that this is one of the objectives of the Emergency Project. He also said that it would be appropriate to hire women in areas where social norms allow - for cooking, moving of materials and other possible jobs-and this would bolster the reputation of the contractor and the PWP.
The deputy director of the PWP called for strict adherence to the bill of quantity and no additional works should be implemented. In cases where there is an absolute need, a request must be raised to the attention of the Project Management for prior approval – this is a responsibility of the contractor first and foremost.
He also confirmed that requests for payment should be prepared by the contractor's site engineer and presented to the consultant for a review and finalization. He noted that these are standard practices contractors adhere to around the world.
Monitoring and Quality Control
The last working paper was presented by Engineer Shukri al-Asbahi, Follow-up and Evaluation Manager. He presented a brief overview of monitoring and quality control in which he touched upon orders for changes, additional works, quality of implementation, known problems and a brief description of the grievance system (complaint system).
Engineer Shukri al-Asbahi pointed out that most comments seen in reports by the staff of the Monitoring and Quality Control Department are on the lack of material testing. This may be due to the reason thatthe materials come from a known source or the quality is known to be good, but he said samples must be taken to be tested no matter what. One may find during excavation that the soil is not homogeneous. The solution here may need a change order for additional work, he added.
The Follow-Up and Evaluation Manager in the PWP confirmed that violations have been noticed in the quality of work due to the negligence of contractors, because of the absence of a staff engineer with the contractor. A solution for that has been introduced to include the name of the site engineer in the contractor's implementation schedule.
Discussion
Following the presentations of the working papers by officials and specialists in the PWP, a discussion session was held. The presenters listened to questions raised by the contractors and answers came from main district managers in the PMU.