GAP Awards First Round of Capital Projects
BAM 2.3million awarded
For the past five years, the Governance Accountability (GAP) project has facilitated the creation of a capital improvement planning (CIP) process in 35 partner municipalities across BiH. The purpose of this campaign was to encourage and improve participatory mechanisms for citizen participation in community planning by engaging civil society, community groups, and NGOs in planning and monitoring capital improvement projects.
In June 2009, GAP signed 31capital project co-financing agreements with partner municipalities, totaling BAM 2.3 million. This figure represents just 30% of the total cost of the projects – meaning the remaining funds will be raised by the municipalities themselves, in a impressive show of commitment.
Projects include funding for a kindergarten expansion in Mrkonic Grad to provide room for 50 more children, a water supply project in Breza to ensure year-round clean fresh water, flood control in Prozor/Rama to help prevent devastating seasonal flooding and, in Doboj Istok, a cross-entity road construction project to provide better access to markets and schools.
Capital improvement projects mark an important milestone in GAP assistance. Under the guidance of GAP staff, this hands-on experience will ensure that municipalities are empowered to conduct fair and transparent procurements, thereby promoting open relations with the business community and ensuring the rational spending of limited public resources. Moreover, all GAP projects will be procured according to BiH legislation, which follows European directives and will afford municipalities the greatest possible exposure to EU procurement procedures.
The importance of GAP’s role in developing quality project proposals and capital planning was recognized by the Mayor of Doboj Istok, who said: “The most important part of GAP assistance for me is capital investment planning, helping us prioritize and meet our capital needs.”
GAP is sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN). Its objective is to build democratic governance through improving the capacity of municipalities to better serve their citizens. Please contact the GAP office for more information on GAP or its activities, including its work in capital improvement planning.
