Bangladesh Private Sector Development Support Project – Economic Zones Development Assignment
Department for International Development
Abbreviated RAP – Kaliakoir Hi- Tech Park
1 Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 Table of Contents 0
Table of Contents 1
LIST OF EXHIBITS 3
1 Executive Summary 4
2 The Project 6
3 Objectives of The Abbreviated RAP 7
4 Existing land use of proposed site 25
5 Analysis of Adverse Impacts 27
5.1 Existing Access Road 27
5.2 Loss of Agricultural Land and a Deep Tube Well 28
6 Mitigation Measures 29
6.1 Provision of Alternative Access Road 29
6.2 Deep Tube Well 30
7 Consultations Error! Bookmark not defined.
8 Legal framework governing resettlement and rehabilitation Error! Bookmark not defined.
9 Resettlement & Rehabilitation Process 31
10 Implementation Schedule 31
11 Costs & Budgets 31
12 Institutional Arrangements 33
13 Grievance Redress Mechanism 33
14 Monitoring & Evaluation 33
15 References 34
16 Annex 4 – Project Area and Proposed Alternative Road 35
17 Annex 2 – Project Site Photographs 36
18 Annex 3 – Institutional Arrangements 36
LIST OF EXHIBITS
Exhibit 1 Proposed Mitigation Measures 31
Exhibit 2 Description of Affected Housing Structures and Associate Facilities with Valuation Error! Bookmark not defined.
Exhibit 3 Compensation for the Loss of Trees Error! Bookmark not defined.
Exhibit 4 Resettlement Budget Error! Bookmark not defined.
1 Executive Summary
The Project
The Kaliakoir-Hi Tech Park is to be established by Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) in Kaliakoir, Gazipur District. Kaliakoir is about 40 km from Dhaka City and 25 km from Zia International Airport, Dhaka.
The Proposed Site
The project affected area consists of 262.63 acres of land and is available without any encumbrance. The site is mostly covered with bushes and grass. The southern part of the site comprises flat high land. The eastern, western and northern parts of the area are comparatively low lying. There are some wetlands on the northern-western that are not used by anyone. These wetlands will not be affected because of the project, as explained in the Master Plan for the site.
Some Key Issues
Key issues in Kaliakoir relates to (1) loss of income: Due to loss of access road rickshaw pullers and small businesses might face decreased income and there will be road connectivity problems and temporary users of agricultural land within the project foot print would incur impact on livelihood;(2) loss of public property: loss of access to roads that runs towards villages such as Pirer Teki, Janerchela, and Kalampur that would affect access of families to their social relations, places of work, health care and educational institutions in addition to facilitating access to 5 tea stall owners and rickshaw pullers who have their tea stall and rickshaw stand outside the project area; (3) loss of community resource property: loss of 360 feet deep tube-well
Mitigation of Adverse Impacts
1)BCC has also agreed to provide alternative road prior to closure of the existing access road. This will ensure that villagers of Pirer Teki, Janerchela, Kalampur etc. continue to have access to their social relations, places of work and access to health care and educational institutions. The newly constructed approach road would also provide continued access to tea stalls and rickshaw stands to those who want to have access. This would ensure that the loss of access and approach would be mitigated before the closure of the existing road.
Furthermore the area of about 75 acres of land that belonged to BCC was being cultivated by 81 people on the basis of an understanding that they would vacate the land when BCC ask them to vacate. In accordance with this understanding, the 81 temporary farmers have vacated the land.
3)The committee of 360 feet deep tube shall be paid compensation for loss of the tube well at replacement cost along with advice to help him select a site for putting up the tube well and also technical support to test the quality of water in the new site.
Abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan
This is an abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan that relates to (i) construction of alternative approach road by BCC prior to construction of Kaliakoir High-Tech Park and (ii) payment of compensation at replacement cost to owner of 360 feet deep tube well along with technical support to select an alternative site and test it for quality of water, if required.
Implementation of Abbreviated RAP
BCC would complete the implementation of RAP prior to its starting the construction work of Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park and submit a detailed report to the World Bank for review and clearance. It will also confirm construction of alternative approach road and payment and support provided to the owner of the deep tube well.
2 The Project
The Government of Bangladesh had requested the World Bank along with the Department for International Development, UK (DfID) to support a new investment initiative entitled ‘Private Sector Development Support Project’ (PSDSP). PSDSP seeks to remove constraints to private sector investment in Bangladesh through the piloting of Economic Zones (EZ/EZs). The Hi-Tech Park at Kaliakoir is one of the proposed sites for development as an economic zone.
The first initiative towards the establishment of the Hi-Tech Park was taken up by the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication and Technology in 2001. Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) was assigned the role of the implementing agency for the park. Following this, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of land and Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (MoSICT)resulting in the transfer of the required land to MoSICT in April 2004. The land was earlier held by the Telegraph and Telephone (T&T) Board from 1969 to 2004.
In the year 2004, the Hi-Tech park project was included in the Annual Development Programme as a project ‘without budget’. The project was proposed to create basic infrastructure facilities using the funds of the Government of Bangladesh to induce interest among the potential investors in the park. The project was termed as the ‘Basic Infrastructure Development Project for Hi-Tech Park at Kaliakoir (1st phase)’. The work for this phase is in progress and is scheduled to be completed in September 2009.
As part of the PSDSP program, DfID has retained a consortium of consultants led by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC or the consultants) to assess feasibility of four sites for setting up the proposed EZs including the Hi-Tech Park. A part of the feasibility study requires carrying out of Social Impact Assessment as the basis for identifying social, economic and cultural impacts of the Project and those who are directly and indirectly affected by it irrespective of their legal status, to help with the preparation of the resettlement action plan.
0| IIFC Bangladesh | Mahindra Consulting Engineers | DevCon
Bangladesh Private Sector Development Support Project – Economic Zones Development Assignment
Department for International Development
Abbreviated RAP – Kaliakoir Hi- Tech Park
3 Objectives of The Abbreviated RAP
This is an abbreviated RAP as the adverse social and economic impacts of the Project are not significant. The objectives of this RAP are:
· To identify adverse social and economic impact of the Project on those who live within the Project Affected Area, in terms of loss of assets such as homestead, access to productive assets and sources of income irrespective of legal status;
· To identify those who are affected by these impacts;
· To suggest mitigation measures to mitigate these adverse impacts;
· To formulate entitlement to help with resettlement and rehabilitation.
4 Legal framework governing resettlement and rehabilitation
Currently the only legal framework that governs land acquisition in Bangladesh is the Acquisition and Requisition of Immovable Property Ordinance, 1982. However, its provisions are not adequate to address adverse impacts associated with land acquisition and involuntary displacement and do not fully satisfy the requirements of the Bank's Operational Policy (OP 4.12) on Involuntary Resettlement or that of the international practices. In essence, the law is largely indifferent to the landowners' present socio-economic conditions, or the long-term adverse impacts on incomes and livelihood that the acquisition and displacement may cause on the affected people. Also, there are no other policies that complement the acquisition ordinance in ways to assess, mitigate and monitor adverse impacts that the affected people may suffer. Some of the salient gaps in the existing legal framework are summarized below:
· Avoiding/Minimizing Land Acquisition: The law only implicitly discourages unnecessary acquisition, as lands acquired for one purpose cannot be used for a different purpose, and lands that remain unused be returned to the original owners. However, there are no mechanisms to monitor if these conditions are actually adhered to.
· Eligibility for Compensation: The law stipulates compensation only for the persons who appears in the land administration records as the owners. It does not recognize the rights of those, such as squatters, who do not possess legal title to the lands they live in or make a living from. There is thus no provision to mitigate the adverse impacts they suffer.
· People who are impacted through loss of income are not recognized. The Land Acquisition Act provides for compensation for lands and other fixed assets built and grown on them (structures, trees and orchards, crops and any other developments like ponds, built amenities, etc.). However there is no provision to assess the impacts on peoples’ incomes, livelihood, loss of employment and businesses for mitigation measures to restore loss of incomes and livelihood.
· Compensation Standards: Although the law stipulates payment of compensation at 'market prices' for acquired lands as the just compensation, the legal assessment procedures used almost always results in prices that are far below the actual market prices.
· Relocation of Displaced Persons. There is no provision in the existing laws for relocation of displaced families who are affected by the loss of their assets: land and/or structures.
· Ensuring Payment/Receipt of Compensation. The legal process to determine entitlements are too cumbersome and time consuming and do not ensure payment of compensation prior to their displacement. Lands are legally acquired and handed over to the project execution agency as soon as the authority identifies the owners (or 'awardees'), by examining the records, and sends a legal notice advising them to claim the compensation (or 'awards'). The onus is left on the affected land owners to prove, by producing an array of documents, that the acquired lands legally belong to them. As gathering these documents is a long, expensive and cumbersome process, many landowners may be unable to claim their awards. The project has meanwhile started to use the lands.
· Socio-economic Rehabilitation. Existing legal framework does not have any provisions to mitigate long-term impacts on peoples’ livelihood caused by their displacement. Except for the compensation at the 'market price' for the loss of land, there are no other provisions, in the acquisition or other laws that require the government to mitigate the resultant adverse impacts caused by the acquisition. Socioeconomic rehabilitation of the involuntarily displaced persons is totally absent in the legal regime of the country.
World Bank’s OP 4.12 Requirements
The primary objective of the World Bank policy on ‘Involuntary Resettlement’ is to explore all alternatives to avoid or at least minimize involuntary resettlement. Where resettlement is unavoidable, the resettlement activities should be conceived and executed as sustainable development programs, providing sufficient resources to enable affected persons to share in project benefits and assisted in their efforts to improve their livelihood and standard of living, or at least to restore them to pre-project level. The policy also requires that affected people are meaningfully consulted and should have opportunities to participate in planning and implementing resettlement programs. The policy applies to the taking of land and other assets when involuntary resettlement results in the loss of shelter, the loss of all or part of productive assets, or access to them, and the loss of income sources or means of livelihood, with or without physical displacement.
Measures required to ensure that resettlement has a positive outcome include:
· Providing Project-affected persons with options;
· Permitting their participation in planning and selecting these options;
· Prompt compensation at full replacement cost for losses;
· Choosing relocation sites that provide, at a minimum, the same benefits as the sites they replace;
· Providing allowances and other assistance to make a smooth transition after displacement;
· Identifying vulnerable groups and providing and special assistance to these groups; and,
· Implementing an institutional structure that supports the process to a successful end.
Bank’s policy on Involuntary Resettlement requires payment of compensation and other assistance to project affected people before they are displaced from their existing locations. Further the policy requires income rehabilitation assistance to those affected severely due to the loss of their productive assets or loss of incomes and livelihood.
Absence of legal title does not exclude individuals from the eligibility to receive compensation and/or other assistance. The displaced or affected population eligible for compensation for losses include: those who have formal legal rights to land or other assets, and those who initially do not have formal legal rights to land or other assets but have a claim to legal rights based upon the laws of the country. The Policy also requires that those without legal title should be given assistance to meet the objectives of the policy. The genesis of these rights may come from continued possession of public land where the government has not sought their eviction. Bank’s policy also recognizes that stakeholders who illegally occupy project-affected areas after established cut-off-date for any components are not eligible for compensation and other assistance provided that adequate measures are taken for information dissemination to people.
The gaps in the existing legal framework of Bangladesh and the objectives and requirements of the World Bank and other multilateral agencies are well recognized. Therefore, institutional or project specific policies are prepared to address these gaps and to meet the requirements of multilateral agencies in projects funded by them.
5 Analysis of Socio-economic profiles