By Khawaja Raffat Zaheer
Secretary General Association of Road Users of Pakistan

The Association of Road Users of Pakistan conducted a countrywide Consultation Program for road stakeholders in August and September 2000. The program was sponsored by the World Bank and was organized in collaboration with the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the Provincial Highway Agencies.

One of the main features of the program was to obtain an aggregated road users response to a structured questionnaire.

AGGREGATED ROAD USER RESPONSE TO STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE

For arriving at the aggregated road user response to a structured questionnaire, the participants were divided into 5 groups of about 10-12 persons. From amongst each group a representative was chosen to act as spokesperson on behalf of the group. 

1     Session I used open ended questions to allow road users to provide feedback to road agencies on their priorities - what is working well and what has got worse. The time allocated for this was 30 minutes.

2     Session II sought group feedback on a series of holistic Performance Indicators developed through an international effort and published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1998, covering seven groups of objectives – accessibility /mobility, safety, environment, equity, community and economic development.

Feedback was also sought on the following three major activities – program development, service delivery and system operation.

3     Session III sought explicit feedback on environmental and social issues related to the proposed national highway improvement program through a series of structured questions.

CONCLUSIONS BASED ON PROVINCIAL WORKSHOPS

The four Stakeholder Consultation Workshops held in all the four provinces of Pakistan were a resounding success. The participation level at these workshops was very high and a great deal of interaction was generated. The issues confronting the roads users were debated upon and many questions were asked from the officials representing NHA and the provincial C & W departments. The participants were thrilled with this unique opportunity provided to them for questioning Government officials and demanding accountability from them in respect of various road maintenance and construction projects underway in their respective areas.

The observations and comments of the participants in respect of road works being carried out by NHA and C & W departments were much the same in all the four provinces with a little variation in Balochistan where strong resentment was expressed by the participants, at the delays in the release of road maintenance funds and the alleged neglect by the Federal Government in developing new roads.

NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY

At each workshop participants expressed their dissatisfaction with the work being done by NHA in respect of maintenance of highways in the provinces.

1    They were generally unhappy with the quality of road construction and maintenance work.

2   They complained about projects being unduly delayed and in some cases left incomplete for many months.

At the Khuzdar (Balochistan) workshop, a suggestion was made that the NHA should be disbanded and merged with Provincial C & W departments. NHA’s proposed scheme for the National Road Fund and their suggestion for private sector participation in the Road Fund Board was well received everywhere. The workshop participants welcomed this proposal, which in their opinion demonstrated NHA’s desire to open itself to public scrutiny.

PROVINCIAL COMMUNICATION  &  WORKS  DEPARTMENT

The comments on the roadwork undertaken by the C & W department in each province were varied in respect of specific road projects. The general theme, however, was that

1         inadequate funding

2         poor management

3         misplaced priorities

left the average road user highly frustrated and greatly dissatisfied with the poor condition of the provincial roads. The workshop participants felt that greater emphasis must be given to the construction of farm to market roads in the provinces.

The Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) workshop participants conveyed the impression of being partially satisfied with the state of the provincial roads in their province.

The workshops were attended by a number of women, who were particularly vocal about their special concerns regarding roads and road transport. The largest contingent of women participated in the Gujranwala (Punjab) Workshop where some of them had even come from Sialkot. The general theme on gender perspective was the same everywhere. Women voiced their deep concern regarding the lack of rural roads and inadequacy of public transport. This affected their mobility and prevented them from being able to supplement the family income.

RECOMMENDATIONS  BASED  ON PROVINCIAL  WORKSHOPS

The following recommendations emerged as a consensus of opinion expressed at the four workshops:

(1)      The Stakeholder Consultation Workshops should be an annual feature, which provide a forum for road user and road agencies interaction.

(2)      Road User organizations like ARUP should be fully involved in all road matters and should provide regular feedback to the road agencies on user perspective.

(3)      Private sector participation in the management of the Road Fund is imperative. Road User organizations should play a key role in policy making in respect of all roads. GOP should minimize the level of additional levy necessary on diesel oil and petrol, for raising money for the Road Fund.

(4)      Priority must be given to the construction of farm-to-market roads and the proper maintenance of existing provincial roads and highways.

(5)      Every effort must be made to minimize the adverse impact on our environment due to the construction of new roads. The social impact on our society as a consequence of construction of new roads must also be given due "weightage".

(6)      A comprehensive feasibility study (with cost benefit analysis) must be prepared for each road construction project. This information should be widely circulated to road users and their comments solicited prior to decision making in respect of a specific project. Priority must be given to construction of roads, which serve the larger public interest. Political or any other type of pressure should be totally ignored and complete transparency must be maintained in the decision making process.

  A sustained campaign should be launched with the support of GOP and the World Bank, to improve road safety, with a view to minimizing the alarming number of accidents, which are causing a serious loss to the economy of Pakistan. ARUP’s current road safety drive and awareness campaign should be supported.

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