From 29 May to 9 June 2017, a training-of-trainers (TOT) course was held in Viengkham District in Luang Prabang Province, and in Sepon District in Savannakhet Province. This TOT course formed part of the Road Maintenance Group (RMG) pilot funded through the SDC Innovation Fund under PRF III. During the TOT course, national, provincial and district staff of PRF and provincial and district staff of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport were trained in the RMG approach and in the training of RMGs (representatives of the ADB Road Sector Governance and Maintenance Project also participated in one of the TOT courses). In each province, the TOT course consisted of one day of theoretical training to explain the approach and the pilot, followed by one day of practical training of one of the RMGs involved in the pilot. The remaining pilot RMGs in each province were subsequently trained by PRF and OPWT staff that had participated in the TOT course.
The pilot will complete in December 2017 and the result of the pilot will be scaled up during the PRF III lifetime, if successful. All the PRF road subprojects will establish the RMG to maintain the road for two years. The first evaluation will be conducted at the end of October 2017 with support from a RMG specialist in contract with the PRF.
