In brief
- The World Bank's November 2024 implementation review records Garowe bridge and road works at 95% physical progress against 97% elapsed contract time.
- Similar near-balance figures appear for Baidoa, while the review's stated delay causes for Kismayo should not be read across to Garowe.
- The review is a progress snapshot, so it shows a position at a date, not whether the bridge has since opened.
Contents
The World Bank's implementation review from its November 2024 mission records that works on the 145m bridge and 1.22km of asphalt concrete road in Garowe stood at 95% progress against 97% of contract time used. The figure sits in footnote 5 on page 5 of the review, which covers a total of 21.5km of roads with drainage across several cities.
What the source records
The review states that civil works for roads package 1 in Garowe, Kismayo, Baidoa and Mogadishu have been completed, and that package 2 works in Garowe are on schedule. It reports that 9.1km of asphalt concrete roads have been completed in Garowe as part of 32.3km across the project, and that progress gained momentum in the four months before the mission as the contractor increased resources and finished asphalt works. The same footnote gives Baidoa at 95% progress against 99% of time for 10.8km of roads. See World Bank.
What it means on site
A 95% against 97% pairing tells a client or engineer that physical work sits slightly behind elapsed time, not that the job has stalled. The mechanism worth watching is the closing sequence: final drainage connections, kerbs, walkways, streetlighting, testing and snag lists, where remaining activity can be small in value but long in duration. Ask the site team for the updated work programme and recovery plan the review says PIUs would require contractors to prepare, and check how the last five percent is broken into dated activities rather than one lump.
What the source does not establish
The review is a progress snapshot as of the November 2024 mission, so it does not establish the bridge's present condition, whether it has opened, or what has happened since. It attributes delays in Kismayo to late equipment mobilization, breakdowns, contractor cashflow, heavy rains, shared resources across multiple contracts and limited contract management capacity, but those causes are recorded for Kismayo in the source. No cause is stated for the Garowe figures, and none should be assumed from the Kismayo text.
What to do next
Request the current monthly progress report and updated contractor work programme for the Garowe bridge package from the PIU, and ask the supervising office which activities make up the outstanding percentage with their planned completion dates.
Sources
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Garowe and Puntland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.