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About Me
- Vishwas Bhat
- Let me introduce myself with these small lines :P --> I Work 4 a cause, not 4 applause. I Live life to express, not to impress. I Don't strive to make my presence noticed, I just make my absence felt..!! Im into all kinda crazy stuff.. name it .. i've done it.. if not ..will be doing it next! :)
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Excessive investment in the nation's infrastructure seems to be a serious problem, as an analysis of potential traffic on roads to be constructed nationwide was overestimated by around 22 percent.
According to the Korea Development Institute (KDI), the country's leading economic think tank, the actual traffic on roads built between 2000 and 2006 fell short of the traffic estimation made beforehand _ mostly prior to 2000 _ by 22.39 percent.
This means roads were built based on an overestimation of traffic, resulting in a waste of taxpayers' money.
The excessive investment was even more serious for roads built with private capital. These roads were built on the assumption that there would be 50 percent more on the roads than the actual traffic.
The overestimation of traffic was more notable in provinces than in metropolitan areas.
The KDI said government officials tend to recklessly expand road construction projects for the enjoyment of exercising power. Moreover, they don't have to take responsibility for the road's profitability afterward.
It added that accurately estimating traffic years in advance is a very difficult task. The traffic estimating agencies, however, also tend to overestimate to satisfy the demands of the client.
The report said in case of private financing projects in the past, in which government took most of the risk coming from overestimation, private developers had a good reason to overestimate the demand for the road.
The government had guaranteed a minimum revenue for the private developers, but has been scrapping the system step by step.
It said the government should set up measures to systemize traffic estimation before building roads, to prevent overestimation and squandering of taxpayers' money. It suggested opening the whole process of traffic estimation to the public to enhance transparency.
Japan to prioritise Viet Nam’s infrastructure projects
11:03' 16/02/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - Japan will prioritise projects on infrastructure construction and human resources development in Viet Nam , the newly-accredited Japanese ambassador to Viet Nam said.
In an interview with a Vietnam News Agency reporter in Tokyo before taking the new post by the end of this month, Ambassador Mitsuo Sakaba said over the past five years, economic, investment and trade ties between Japan and Viet Nam have seen marked progress but he added, however, that much remains to be done, particularly in infrastructure, transport, power and seaport.
In addition, human resources development is an important area where the two sides should boost cooperation, he said.
In regard to Viet Nam ’s three big infrastructure projects with Japan ’s involvement, namely the North-South railway and highway and the Hoa Lac hi-tech park, Sakaba said further efforts should be made to efficiently prepare for future works, including feasibility studies and the designing.
He went on to say that Japan will invite its research institutes and hi-tech companies to join the Hoa Lac hi-tech park project to turn the park into a hi-tech centre in Viet Nam , contributing to boosting the development not only in Viet Nam but also in the region.
Concerning the improvement of investment environment, the ambassador said that certain results have been made since 2003 when Japan and Viet Nam launched the “Japan-Viet Nam Joint Initiative” and that Japanese businesses have highly valued the Vietnamese government’s activeness in improving its investment environment.
The diplomat expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Government of Viet Nam to implement the third phase of the Initiative to further improve the Vietnamese investment environment.
(Source: VNA)
Infrastructure starts slow recovery with declining age of bridges, roads
OTTAWA - A new study says the average age of public infrastructure such as roads and bridges has been falling in most provinces for seven years, but that doesn't mean urban decay has been stemmed, it warns.
Statistics Canada says the rejuvenating trend has been fuelled mainly by large investments in highways and roads in Quebec and Ontario.
The study looked at five public assets: highways and roads, bridges and overpasses, water supply systems, wastewater treatment facilities and sanitary and storm sewers.
While the overall age of these assets is dropping, the study found that investments in bridges, for example, have been under the level required to hold their age constant.
The average age of bridges actually rose by 3.2 years over a 22-year period, to 24.5 years in 2007 from 21.3 years in 1985. Overall in 2007, bridges had passed more than 57 per cent of what the study called their "useful life."
But bridges weren't as bad off as wastewater treatment.
Unlike other public infrastructure assets, Canada's stock of water treatment plants declined by 1.1 per cent a year on average from 2001 to 2007, the study found. The decline spread across most provinces, except Nova Scotia and Alberta.
As a result, the average age edged up to 17.8 years from 17.4. Last year, 63 per cent of wastewater treatment assets had passed their useful life, says Statistics Canada.
The stock of sanitary and storm sewers has increased one per cent a year on average since 2001. But the study says this growth rate was not large enough to reverse the aging trend, as their average age reached a record high of 17.9 years in 2007.
Canada's roads had gone through just over half (53 per cent) of their useful life by 2007. This ratio ranged from a low of 49 per cent in Ontario and Prince Edward Island to 61 per cent in Manitoba.
A recent report by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities said Canadian roads, bridges and water systems are on the verge of "collapse" and in need of a $123-billion investment.
It said Canada has used up 79 per cent of the service life of its roads, sewage systems and other vital components of the country's backbone, and municipalities simply can't afford to fix the problem on their own.
Federation president Gord Steeves said in November that infrastructure could begin falling apart across the country without significant federal funding.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said municipal leaders should stop whining and do their jobs.
The Statistics Canada study assessed the gross value of all assets at $286.2 billion in 2007, 5.3 per cent more than in 2001.
The average age of Canada's public infrastructure reached 16.3 years in 2007, down from its peak of 17.5 in 2000.
Ontario had the youngest public infrastructure system in the country in 2007, followed closely by Prince Edward Island and Alberta, while Nova Scotia had the oldest, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The average age of the five public infrastructure assets was higher than the national average in all provinces east of Ontario in 2007.
The single exception was Prince Edward Island, where infrastructure on average was a relatively young 15.5 years, thanks to the Confederation Bridge.
The average age in British Columbia was equal to the national average.
In Quebec, all five types of infrastructure were still older than the national average in 2007, even though investment in highways and roads has been strong since 2001.
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