Lack of resources to provide sustained follow up, particularly with LGUs. LGUs are often
under resourced and sanitation and sewerage is typically a low priority. The 3 year election
cycle for LGUs also made developing long term partnerships difficult;
c. Delays in procurement. Implementation of TA started in earnest 2-3 years after approval due
to difficulties in finding qualified consultants. The first bidding process for the Joint Sewage
and Septage Treatment Plant (JSSTP) failed due to the low quality of submissions – leading
to the main project delay and need for a grant extension;
d. Difficulties in contract management; the rate rebasing contract was based on person-weeks,
rather than outputs which meant that work was completed by Government agencies; the
consultant drafting the policies moved away from the Philippines and transferred this task to
a sub-contractor without a full handover of documents;
e. Working across a number of implementing agencies and LGUs and with supervision from
both EMB and FASPO within DENR delayed implementation. For example, during
construction of the JSSTP the project team found a number of points where the different
procedures of DENR and MWSS contradicted each other or had different requirements; the
team had to develop shared procedures (including reconciling billing procedures and health
and safety procedures) during implementation.