A geographic perspective of labour-intensive methods in the development and maintenance of transport infrastructure

The study investigates the extent of distributional impacts of labour-intensiveroad projects using a geographical approach. The aim is to evaluateinfrastructural effectiveness. The central premise is that the interface betweenroad investment and economic development has broad implications that arebeyond transportation’s basic purpose of providing access and mobility.Communities are motivated by the outcomes and impacts of roadinfrastructure development in improving the productiveness of the economy,in line with socio-economic development and other multiplying effects.The objective was to describe the nature and delivery mechanisms of labourintensiveroad projects, evaluate the impact thereof on the project participantsand their communities and explore the constraints and challengesexperienced by these initiatives. The impact of the Gundo Lashu programmewas measured, based on an assessment of programme outputs, outcomesand impacts, to determine whether the project had the desired effects onindividual participants and their households. A matched control case studydesign, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches wasadopted.The study found that the Gundo Lashu programme had achieved theexpected outputs in terms of the total number of jobs created, total roadlength constructed and maintained. However, the communities’ socioeconomicoutcomes and the impacts of the programme on poverty andsustainable livelihoods were mixed. These conclusions re-affirm the notionthat the development of rural road infrastructure alone by labour-intensiveconstruction methods, is not sufficient in tackling poverty. While government isfocusing on addressing unemployment and skills development through labourintensiveroad construction programmes, there is a need to ensure properintegration of government services to make a significant impact. Hugedeficiencies exist in the inter-linkages between the programme planningprocess and the municipal planning system and that there are a number ofmanagement and planning, structural and functional, human resources andfunding barriers to proper planning, implementation and monitoring of projectswithin the Gundo Lashu programme. Various challenges and barriersemanates from lack of coordination, political interferences and lack ofstrategic direction. Key recommendations include comprehensive roadplanning, better project targeting mechanisms, development of guidelines forfuture maintenance, skills training and capacity development, and resultsbasedmonitoring.