Process of Assessment and Reporting of Implementation of the Local Waste Management Plan

Within the project Integrated Solid Waste Management in the Berat Region, FLAG has conducted an analysis and a report of the status and implementation of the Local Waste Management Plans for the Municipalities of Berat, Dimal, Kuçovë and Skrapar. The goal of this report conducted is to provide information on the progress and results of the implementation of Local Integrated Waste Management Plans, approximately three years after their approval by the Municipal Councils of the respective municipalities.
The report presents the results of the Plan implementation assessment conducted by FLAG in cooperation with Kucova municipal staff during March and April 2022. The assessment was conducted based upon information provided by the staff and upon interviews with working groups of the municipal administration, supplemented with the results of a survey carried out with citizens in June and July 2022 to gain an impression of their views on the status of waste management service in the municipality.
The Local Waste Management Plan implementation assessment tries to answer the question of whether the Plan was implemented in accordance with the plan and whether the results achieved are the planned one. Assessment of plan implementation is based upon two main questions: i) whether the municipalities are implementing our projects in accordance with the plan, and ii) whether the achieved results are the planned results. Answers to these two questions lead us to decisions that we need to take in order to improve the implementation and achieve the planned goals. Assessment of the Plan starts from assessing the status of implementation of the Plan projects followed by assessment of the results achieved in terms of planned objectives and goals. Assessment of the status of implementation of the projects is undertaken based upon calculating the number of projects implemented, the number in process of implementation, and the number not implemented (or yet to start).

Apart from analysis of implementation status, the assessment evaluates also the progress of implementation from the perspective of funds used. The percentage of funds used for implementing the projects compared to the total planned costs for implementation of those projects is another indicator of the level of progress made in implementation. But for such analysis we need to be careful as it is quite typical for planned costs to be different from the actual costs. Analysis of implementation status and funds used shows us where we are in implementing the Plan, but it does not show whether or not we are closer to our goals. There are many examples of interventions and funds spent that did not achieve the planned goals. Because of this, another part of the assessment of the implementation of the Plan is assessment of the achieved results in comparison to the planned goals and objectives. This assessment is the most difficult because the goals and objectives are difficult to measure and very often depend not only on our interventions, but also on many other factors that are not controlled by us.

The conclusions of the reports were presented to the Competency Team and to the Municipal Councils of each municipality. Regardless of the obstacles, assessment of Plan implementation is crucial to make it successful and helps the municipal staff to understand and materialize the work they have done up to this moment. The graph illustrates the results