Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The World Bank RESTRUCTURING PAPER ON A PROPOSED PROJECT RESTRUCTURING OF SUPPORT TO THE AFGHANISTAN INDEPENDENT LAND AUTHORITY APPROVED ON JUNE 11, 2016 TO MINISTRY OF FINANCE REPORT NO.: RES32355 Public Disclosure Authorized SOCIAL, URBAN, RURAL AND RESILIENCE GLOBAL PRACTICE SOUTH ASIA Public Disclosure Authorized Regional Vice President: Country Director: Senior Global Practice Director: Practice Manager/Manager: Task Team Leader: Ethel Sennhauser Shubham Chaudhuri Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez David Seth Warren Shankar Narayanan, Keith Clifford Bell
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Note to Task Teams: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. BASIC DATA Product Information Project ID P156225 Original EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Approval Date 11-Jun-2016 Financing Instrument Investment Project Financing Current EA Category Partial Assessment (B) Current Closing Date 30-Jun-2018 Organizations Borrower Ministry of Finance Responsible Agency Arazi Project Development Objective (PDO) Original PDO The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to support the Afghan Government to develop the policy and regulatory framework and build capacity to deliver transparent, pro-poor land services, through (a) raising public awareness, knowledge and understanding about laws and regulations governing the land sector; (b) developing processes and service standards for Arazi's core functions Summary Status of Financing TF Approval Signing Effectiveness Closing Net Commitment Disbursed Undisbursed TF-A1898 11-Jun-2016 09-Sep-2016 09-Sep-2016 30-Jun-2018 4.95 1.70 3.25
Policy Waiver(s) Does this restructuring trigger the need for any policy waiver(s)? No Note to Task Teams: End of system generated content, document is editable from here. I. PROJECT STATUS AND RATIONALE FOR RESTRUCTURING 1. A PPG in the amount of US$ 4.95 million to support preparation of the Afghanistan Land Administration Project (ALASP) (P164762) was approved in June 2016. The PCN for the Afghanistan Land Administration System Project (ALASP) was approved on December 12, 2017 and ARAZI launched its Institutional Development Programme for Land Administration on February 15, 2018. It has been agreed to undertake a Rapid Institutional Capacity Assessment (RICA) of ARAZI as an integral part of the Project preparation process. The current expected Board date is in November 2018. The PPG would be closed once the ALASP project becomes effective. If the ALASP project is declared effective before June 30,2019, the activities and fresh expenditures after ALASP becomes effective will be financed out of the ALASP project funds and not from the PPG funds. PPG will be closed after the proposed new closing date of June 30,2019. 2. Considerable progress has been made in preparing the Government for implementation of the project, over the PPG period. The PPG has disbursed 34% and has an undisbursed balance of US$ 3.25 million out of the US$ 4.95 million committed. Groundwork for project preparation has begun through the preparation of the Institutional Development Programme for Land Administration (IDPL) with support from the Turkish Cadastre and Land Administration Agency (TKGM). That apart, the key activities undertaken so far are detailed below: (a) Staffing of Project Management Unit (PMU) The PPG has assisted the creation of a well-staffed Project Management Unit that has begun the groundwork for project preparation and implementation. Twenty-five technical embedded staff and individual consultants have been recruited under the PPG till now, including three women. This includes the Project Director, Senior Specialists for Financial Management, Procurement, Legal, Geodetic Engineering, and IT as well as specialists for Communications, Social and Environmental Safeguards, Administration, Finance, Legal Associate, Land Pricing Project Coordinator, IT Specialist for Land Pricing, Regional Coordinator Herat and support staff positions. 66 positions in Cadastral Survey and Land Clearance have also been advertised and the recruitment process is underway. (b) Afghanistan Land Pricing System (ALPIS) ALPIS is an online information bank for the price of urban and rural properties which is created and managed by ARAZI. The information provided by ALPIS on sale, rent, mortgages, government and personal property by the ARAZI Management Technical team is collected every five years according to the National Land Policy Guidelines and inserted in the relevant information bank. Access to ALPIS information is open to the government, the public and the private sector, and is also possible through mobile phone applications.
The World Bank has approved ALPIS package and currently the ALPIS coordinator is working on preparation of ToR for ALPIS activity, regional managers and data entry officers. ALPIS will be implemented by Kabul Polytechnic University due to their technical capacity on GIS and GPS mapping. (c) Training and Capacity Building An MoU has been signed with the Kabul Polytechnic University for trainings and the establishment of an ARAZI Technical Training Institute. (d) Civil works Civil works for concreting and fencing of the Arazi Access Entrance Road are expected to be completed by September 30, 2018. (e) E-Governance The IT team at Arazi has signed an MoU with Asan Khedmat for development of e-governance systems for Arazi. This includes (i) Human Resources Management Information System (ii) Finance Management Information System (iii) Procurement Management Information System (iv) Document Management System (v) Integrated Management Information System (vi) Asset Management System. (f) ARAZI website The new ARAZI website is under preparation (g) Land Bank project The PIU under the PPG is also providing operational support to the UN-HABITAT funded Land Bank project due to capacity constraints in ARAZI. Under this project a total of 107 employees are working in 28 provinces and the PIU is responsible for processing of staff salaries, procurement of goods, equipment and hiring of rental vehicles and other required operational support. (h) Returnees Under the PPG, Arazi is providing support on allocation of land for settlement of returnees through provision of technical staff in five provinces along with the Land Bank team, which have a high number of expected returnees - Nangerhar, Laghman, Kabul, Kandahar, and Kunar. ARAZI is also finding state land for internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnees. 3. Rationale for Restructuring: While there has been considerable progress on this preparatory work, there have been delays in approval of the Procurement Plan, staff recruitment and approval of budget for the FY on account of which some of the major activities remain unexecuted. For this reason, the first no-cost extension is being sought. In accordance with the grant agreement, the following activities will be implemented during the extension period: (a) Procurement of Afghanistan Land Pricing Information System (ALPIS) and online Information Bank for the price of urban and rural properties. (b) Procurement of Consultancy Services to provide national and international training to ARAZI staff. (c) Land Code Development and drafting of relevant legislation. (d) Hiring of Consultants for 66 Vacant positions; and (e) Procurement of Equipment (ICB methods)
II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED CHANGES 4. It is proposed that a one-year extension on the closing date to June 30, 2019 at no-cost is obtained. This extension would enable completion of outstanding activities in preparation for the project. There are no overdue audit reports currently. The PPG would close as soon as the ALASP Project becomes effective. There is no other proposed change to this project. Note to Task Teams: The following sections are system generated and can only be edited online in the Portal. III. SUMMARY OF CHANGES Changed Change in Loan Closing Date(s) Not Changed Change in Implementing Agency Change in Project's Development Objectives Change in Results Framework Change in Components and Cost Cancellations Proposed Additional Financing Proposed Reallocation between Disbursement Categories Change in Disbursements Arrangements Change in Disbursement Estimates Change in Overall Risk Rating Change in Safeguard Policies Triggered Change of EA category Change in Legal Covenants Change in Institutional Arrangements Change in Financial Management Change in Procurement Change in Implementation Schedule Other Change(s)
OPS_DETAILEDCHANGES_LOANCLOSING_TABLE The World Bank IV. DETAILED CHANGE(S) LOAN CLOSING DATE(S) TF Status Original Closing Revised Closing(s) Proposed Closing Proposed Deadline for Withdrawal Applications TF-A1898 Effective 30-Jun-2018 30-Jun-2019 30-Oct-2019 Note to Task Teams: End of system generated content, document is editable from here.