COURSE NAME: PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

YEAR OF STUDY: YR 1 SEMESTER 2,

1 a)

Time Value of money says that money received today is worth more than money received
in the future because:

One could invest the money and keep the interest earned on your money,

If there was inflation in the economy during the time I was holding onto your money, the
purchasing power of the money given back will be less than the money you gave me and

There is a risk I won’t return the money.

b)

Public infrastructure is a system of public facilities, both publicly and privately funded,
which provide for the delivery of essential services and a sustained standard of living. They
fall under the following categories;

Development of new projects or provision of additional capacity or capability: this involves

new projects and additional of capacity to the existing projects for example: New Highway
and a new water distribution system or Add additional lanes, expanding a water treatment
and Add new pumps

Rehabilitation or reconstruction of existing facility without changing the capacity or

capability of the facility

Routine maintenance (preventive) and operation of infrastructure system for example the
municipal systems for transportation, water supply, sewage and flood water and solid
wastes

Improve the system efficiency by modifying the operation and management like improving
the pump efficiency by cleaning or lubrication.

c)

Decay and deterioration condition, failure)

Lack of maintenance and renovation for a long time taking an example of some public roads
in Uganda

Scarcity of financing (central gov’t funds projects of national/local government importance

– local governments left to build the rest; money tends to be for construction and not
maintenance; lots of infrastructure needs)

Inadequate reporting and accounting for the team tasked to manage and maintain the
facility

 
 

d)

Programming is a process of prioritizing proposed projects and developing a single-year or

multiyear program of projects, usually within a constrained monetary amount. This for
example includes an annual preventive maintenance program, a five-year capital program
and many others

And Budgeting is procedure that actually produces the funding and authority to incur costs
and allocate funds. The budget is usually an annual legislative authorization for
expenditures and may follow multiyear authorization guidelines established by the same
legislative bodies.

Key elements for analysis the programming and budgeting include

Setting program goals and objective

Establishing program performance measures (Monitoring the program progress and

evaluate the results)

Assessing needs and identifying project (Identify and measure problems and needs and
Identify alternatives solutions)

Budgeting

Program implementation and monitoring

e)

The quantitative analysis of the relative desirability (profitability) of investing a given sum
of public or private funds in alternative projects and a tool of economic analysis in which
the actual and potential private and social costs of various economic decisions are weighed
against actual and potential private and social benefits.

So it is nothing but a profitability analysis. But what will be the costs or the benefits that a
society may have to bear or get from the proposed project are not considered. In the end
the project will fail because the methods applied only look at the profitability and try to
minimize the costs without considering what the people in the community want. For
example the cattle keepers in Karamoja would prefer a dam to keep water for watering
their animals in the dry season to a 4 lane road

f)

When we evaluate a project from the view point of the society as a whole, it is called Social
Cost Benefit Analysis and below are its significance

Market imperfection

Externalities

Taxes & Subsidies

 
 

Concern for savings

Concern for redistribution

Merit wants

The term Public Works is applied to facilities that usually require substantial capital
investment; provide services or solve problems perceived to the public's responsibility;
and are planned, designed, constructed, and proposed by the government agencies. Private
companies may also construct and operate public works, to serve their own manufacturing
needs or for profit.

And below are some important perspectives for public works and infrastructure

Objectives and Values Change over Time. This can be as a result of changes in tastes and
preferences of the population

Infrastructure Planning Involves the Concepts of Systems and a Holistic Approach to

Installation, Operation, and Management.

The Different Infrastructure Systems Need to Be Integrated. For example in transport,

various modes of transport are needed to effectively solve the transport problem like
having a railway system at an airport

Infrastructure Planning Involves Not Only the Provision of the Physical Plant, but Also Its
Operation and Management.

The Planning of Infrastructure Is Vital to the Economic Future of a Country since most of
the growth is as a result of the infrastructure in the area for example when electricity is
brought into a village, the is automatic growth in new businesses

The Infrastructure Is Expensive, so the Planning Process Must Be Thorough

Many Different Levels of Government Are Involved depending on the political system that
is , Ministries and local government

There Is a Need for a Strong National Role in Infrastructure Planning.

Infrastructure Planning Is an Interdisciplinary Process.

Public Works Planning Methods Are Based on Scientific, Legal, Ethical, Judgmental, and
Other Concepts.

Many Types of Organizations Employ Infrastructure Planners.

A Successful Project Frequently Requires the Support of Elected and Agency Officials.

 
 

Public Participation in Planning Is Vital since it’s the public that is the last consumer of the
developed product. Their concerns matter a lot

Projects May Have Multiple Purposes and Multiple Objectives.

Financial Considerations Are Usually an Important Component of Infrastructure Planning

Many Factors Are Involved in a Successful Project.

Planning Should Involve a Systematic and Logical Process.

Infrastructure Planning May Involve the Formulation of Alternative Plans to Meet Different
Objectives, and a Methodology of Trade-offs to select an Acceptable Plan. for example
environmentally plan ,legal plan, technical plan

Planning Objectives and Constraints Should Be Identified and Considered Together

4a)

1) The planning agency

The responsibility for public infrastructure planning, development, implementation, and
operations and management, generally rests with an agency that has been granted
statutory authority for a particular type of facility or system of facilities.

Early planning may be done in a very broad context by state or regional planning
organizations, with input from operating agencies. The need for, and the performance of an
infrastructure facility may have wide-ranging impacts and involve many persons and
organizations.

2) Global, National, State and local Issue, Objectives and perspectives

The objectives of a project must be viewed from several different standpoints, depending
on the nature and extent of the project. Several different contexts may be considered with
geographic or political boundaries: global, national, and local.

Global Issue

The global context of a major project, plan, or program of projects may be considered in
terms of sustainability or globalization of the economy.

National Issue

National objectives and concerns are usually expressed in national legislation, which affects
the actions of agencies at all levels of government.

Regional and local Issue

Regional and local objectives, like state objectives, may target additional concerns. For the
transportation sector.

4) Performance-Based/Customer/User Context

 
 

Performance-based planning and the use of outcome-driven performance measures have

become increasingly important for public infrastructure projects. Planners must recognize
and work within the nested set of stakeholders.

5) Organization and Institutional Context

There is more than one institution interested in one infrastructure facility. For example, in
Uganda there are many institutions with an interest in water
6) Political Decision-Making Context

In most cases, decisions to provide public physical infrastructure will be made within the political
decision-making process. Political decisions are made through the different funding and regulatory
contexts, and through the decision processes of governing entities such as mayors, city councils,
county executives, governors, state legislators, and politically appointed agency heads and boards.
For any project, the planner must understand the political decision-making process that will govern
the implementation of the project.

b)

For both the public and private sectors, decisions to fund or provide infrastructure are
especially difficult. Infrastructure assets are typically large fixed assets with significant
capital costs; they take a long time to construct and, are effectively irreversible. As
infrastructure assets can also have important network features and generate significant
positive and negative externalities, choices can lock-in, determining a network of
transaction costs that then shape patterns of trade for a long time.

These realities often create particular difficulties for private infrastructure investment;
there are high risks when infrastructure investment goes wrong, and the presence of
positive externalities means that investment may be lower than is socially desirable.
Overlay these difficulties with the strategic behavior of existing private providers in
limiting new entry and sovereign risk that may accompany instability or uncertainty in the
public institutions that are designed to support infrastructure investment and you have a
recipe for chronic under provision.

There remains an important role for public investment in infrastructure. There may be
infrastructure projects that are of strategic importance and that may not pass a private
cost-benefit analysis; perhaps because the costs and benefits need to be amortized over too
many decades or for other reasons. Intelligently conducted cost benefit analysis can deal
with such issues.

a)
Environmental Impact Assessment is  be  defined  as  a  formal  process  to  predict  the 
environmental  consequences  of  human development activities  and  to  plan appropriate 
measures  to  eliminate  or  reduce  adverse  effects  and  to create positive effects. This may
include studies on the weather, flora and fauna, soil, human health including physical,

 
 

social, biological, economic and cultural impacts. It is one of those measures taken to
ensure that development is sustainable. The assessment   thus has three main functions:

To predict problems, to find ways to avoid them, and to enhance positive effects

b)

 Probability of occurrence Quantitative or qualitative of the likelihood that the impact will
occur; most estimates are given qualitatively using phrases such as highly likely or possible
but not likely

Magnitude The fact of an environmental impact is the change itself, its magnitude,

direction, units, and the estimated probability that it will occur. The meaning of an
environmental impact is the value placed on the change by different affected interests. It is
the answer to the question: If this impact occurs, so what?  This determines how important
an environmental issue is, and to whom.

Reversibility EIA guidance that identify characteristics of a predicted impact that need to
be considered in reaching significance determinations. These typically include impact
characteristics such as magnitude, duration, frequency, likelihood and reversibility 

Impact acceptability determinations involve weighing the importance of impacts, and that
this involves interpretation and the application of judgment. Such judgment can be
rationalized in various ways and a range of methods are available, but all involve values
and all are subjective.

Resources How much effort, skill, money, and data and what computer skills are available

Administration Legal Framework and Standards Identification of the sources standard

limits to be adopted Applicable laws, standards, protocols, and guidelines are choices
limited by agency procedural or format requirements 

Descriptions of the potential environmental impacts associated with all phases of the
proposed project (for both the project site and area of probable impact) for each
environmental component.

Risk Assessments e risks associated with impacts to the environment that could occur as a
result of mishaps or failures during the construction, operation, and decommissioning
phases of the proposed project. Examples of such occurrences are failure of material or
equipment, procedures not being followed, unforeseen non-routine process upsets, and
process equipment or processes not performing according to design parameters. Typical
examples of impacts through mishaps include, but are not limited to, spills, leaks, fires,
explosions, and process blow-downs. Such mishaps or failures may represent
environmental hazards.

Social values are central to significance determinations EIA to help ensure that projects
proposed are environmentally sound and sustainable, and thus to improve decision
making. In Uganda the National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) process resulted in the
preparation of a National Environment Management Policy which was passed in March

 
 

1994. The overall Goal of the Policy is sustainable social and economic development, which
maintains or enhances environmental quality and resource productivity. Environmental
Assessment Agency indicates ‘environmental assessment provides an effective means of
integrating environmental factors into planning and decision-making processes in a
manner that promotes sustainable development.