THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The World Bank (WB) has decided not to fund new road projects in the wake of the “bitter experience” of the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) funded by it since 2002 it to improve traffic flow and road safety in the State Highways (SH) and to strengthen institutional and financial capacity of key transport sector agencies.

The decision not to extend financial assistance to new road projects comes close to the three months breather given to the State expedite the works of the KSTP Phase II as the ongoing upgrade of 363 km of SH as world-class has missed milestones and completion target.

The three key road safety management initiatives- Safe corridor demonstration project, Challenge Fund and Capacity building for the Kerala Road Safety Authority- taken up along with

$ 445 million Phase II project has also faired “badly” in the report card of the WB prepared 38 months after the launch of phase-II.

The WB has also backed out from the pact to fund a high-tech six-storey building to house the headquarters of the Public Works Department on the land owned by PWD near PMG Junction here. “The $ 2 million offer was part of institutional strengthening , a key element of Phase II, and it has been communicated,” Task Team Leader, WB, Bernard Aritua told The Hindu here.

Of the eight corridors in phase-II, the 41-km Perumpilavu-Pattambi-Perinthalmanna had been dropped due to the delay in completing land acquisition. The WB is also not hopeful of the take off of the 82.13-km Punalur-Ponkunnam road to be developed through Private Public Partnership (PPP) on Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain, and Transfer mode.

The WB is also upset over the frequent change of Project Directors of KSTP. Since 2012, the KSTP had five PDs and this had affected the works. The WB has so far provided only $ 50 million of the $ 210 million soft loan agreed by it for the phase-II works. “The State can look forward to WB assistance for maintenance of the existing roads and the management of the road network”, he added.

The brief prepared by the Project Management Team of the KSTP for the October to December 2015 period has put the Phase-II to the last and 17th position among WB projects in the country.

EOM/ARK