Office of Chief Government Statistician Zanzibar (Ocgs)

OFFICE OF CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN ZANZIBAR (OCGS)

P.O.BOX 2321, MWANAKWEREKWE,ZANZIBAR,TANZANIA,

Telephone No. 024-2231869 : Fax No. 024-2231742

Email:

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT

ON

THE PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF OFFICEBUILDING FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN - ZANZIBAR

27th November 2010

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

DECLARATION

ACKNOWLDEGEMENT

ACRONYMS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1General Background of the Project

1.2 Objectives of ESIA

1.3 Methodology of the Study

1.3.1 Interviews with stakeholders

1.3.2 Observation

1.3.3 Literature Review

1.4 Report Structure

CHAPTER TWO: PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION

2.1. Location

2.2. Site Description

2.2.1. Existing Structures

2.2.2 Accessibility

2.3. Major Adjacent Developments

2.4. Other Amenities

2.4.1. Power supply

2.4.2. Water supply

2.4.3. Waste Water Management

2.4.4. Solid Waste Management

2.4.5 Safety against fire

2.5. Nature of the Project and phases

2.5.1 Design of the Office Building

2.5.2 Site Selection Phase

2.5.3 Mobilization phase

2.5.4 Construction phase

2.5.5 Decommissioning Phase

2.6. Project Boundaries

2.6.1. Core area

2.6.2. Area of influence

CHAPTER: LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The Need for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment

3.3. Environmental Management for Sustainable Development Act No. 2 of 1996

3.4 The Environment Impact Assessment (procedures) Regulations, 2002

3.5. Institutional Framework

CHAPTER FOUR: STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC PARTCIPATION

4.1. The Stakeholders

4.2 Analysis of Stakeholders’ Comments

4.3 Response to Stakeholders’ Concerns

CHAPTER FIVE: ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVES

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Site Selection Phase

5.3. Design Phase

5.4 Mobilization/Construction Phase

5.4.1 Benefit to local producers and suppliers of construction materials

5.4.2 Noise pollution due to movement of construction equipments

5.4.3 Air pollution due to dust

5.4.4 Income, skills and knowledge increase to local labours

5.4.5 Cumulative impacts

5.3.5.1 Disposal of excess soil/spoil materials

5.4.6 Occupational health and safety of construction workers

5.5 Building Utilization Phase

5.6 Decommissioning Phase

5.6.1 Environmental impacts

5.7 CONSIDERATION OF PROJECT ALTERNATIVES

5.7.1 Alternatives site

5.7.2 No-Project Alternative

5.8 SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

CHAPTER SIX: MITIGATION MEASURES

6.1 Preamble

6.2 Mobilization/Construction Phase

6.2.1 Noise pollution due to movement of construction equipments

6.2.2 Air pollution due to dust

6.2.3 Inadequacies in backfilling and resurfacing which result into erosion

6.2.4 Disposal of excess soil/spoil materials

6.2.5 Degradation at Points of Sourcing Construction Materials

6.2.6 Occupational health and safety of construction workers

6.3 Building Utilization Phase

6.4 Decommissioning Phase

6.4.1 Mitigation of loss of aesthetic value due to abandonment of structures

6.4.2 Contamination and impairment of environment

CHAPTER SEVEN: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

7.1 Preamble

7.2 Responsibility of implementation of ESMP

7.3 Cost Estimation for ESMP Implementation

CHAPTER EIGHT: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MONITOING PLAN

CHAPTER NINE: DECOMMISSIONING PLAN

9.1 Preliminary Decommissioning Plan

9.2 Project Removal Methodology and Schedule

CHAPTER TEN: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

10.1 Summary

10.2 Conclusions

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Appendix I: List of consulted stakeholders and their signatures

Appendix II: Provisional Certificate of Right of Occupancy

Appendix III: Curriculum Vita of Experts who undertook the ESIA study

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Site plan as issued by the Land Administration department

Figure 2.1: Vegetation cover at the project site

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Key Institution that were involved or will have a role to play in monitoring

Table 4.1. Stakeholders’ views

Table 5.1: Impact summary

Table 7.1: Environmental and Social Management Plan

Table 8.1: Environmental and Social Monitoring Plan

DECLARATION

Names of Consultants who undertook the ESIA

ACKNOWLDEGEMENT

Assess Consulting Limited wishes to acknowledge the following for their invaluable contribution to the success of this ESIA study:

• The Office of the Chief Government Statistician - Zanzibar for entrusting Assess Consulting Ltd with this assignment.
• Staff of the Office of the Chief Government Statistician for cooperation and logistical support during site visits and for providing the needed cooperation.
• All stakeholders as listed in Appendix Iare also acknowledged for their invaluable comments, information and data

ACRONYMS

ADBAfrican Development Bank

CVCurriculum Vitae

DFIDDepartment of Foreign and International Development

EIAEnvironmental Impact Assessment

EISEnvironmental Impact Statement

ESIAEnvironmental and Social Impact Assessment

ESMoPEnvironmental and Social Monitoring Plan

ESMPEnvironmental and Social Management Plan

NSSNational Statistical System

OCGSOffice of the Chief Government Statistician

SMZSerikali ya Mapinduzi Zanzibar (Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar)

TORTerms of Reference

TSMPTanzania Statistical Master Plan

ZAWAZanzibar Water authority

ZECOZanzibar Electricity Corporation

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ProjectTitle: PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF OFFICEBUILDING FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN, ZANZIBAR

Project Proponent: Office of the Chief Government Statistician, Zanzibar

Address: P O Box2321, Mwanakwerekwe,Zanzibar,Tanzania

Telephone No. 024-2231869 :

Fax No. 024-2231742

Email:

EIA Consultants: Assess Consulting Co. Ltd

Address: 3rdFloor, Togo Tower, Kinondoni Rd,

P O Box 14466, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Tel: +255 22 2666978

Fax: +255 22 2668514

Mob: +255 787 691438

Email:

Web:

Contact Person: Ojung Longdare

Outline and Justification

The Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), which is an autonomous body corporate under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of Zanzibar, intends to construct an office building on its plot located at Mazizini area, Unguja. The proposed office construction project is in line with the Tanzania Statistical Master Plan (TSMP) aimed at developing the National Statistical System (NSS) through the following initiatives: (i) Institutional Reform; (ii) Human Resource and Capacity Development; (iii) Development of Statistical Infrastructure; (iv) Data Development and Dissemination as well as (v) Physical Infrastructure and Equipments improvement. The proposed project is also within the framework of a statistical reforms program with assistance and funding from the World Bank.

The proposed project is particularly aimed at solving the existing problem of inadequate office space and equipments at the current OCGS office building located at Mwanakwerekwe, Zanzibar.

Description of the project

The general idea of the OCGS management is to have in place an office building which can accommodate about 80 staff. It is envisaged that the new office building will be consisted of at least 40 office rooms, 2 computer room, server room, store rooms and main board room. Within the compound there will be parking lots for staff and visitors, gate house for security personnel and a cafeteria. In order to accommodate all these requirements within 3,166.88 square meters of space available at plot number 860, it is envisioned that at least a five storey building may be constructed

Description of the Environment

The site on which the proposed office building will be constructed is plot 860 at Mazizini locality which is a well planned area mainly consists of undeveloped medium and low density plots. The project site is entirely new with neither structures nor utilities at the moment. The project site is located adjacent to the Zanzibar Attorney General on the West while the plot owned by the Ministry of Education is on the Eastern side. On its northern side, the site shares its border with a well built Mbarak Islamic centre. The area coverage of the site is 3,166.88 square meters.

The project site is situated on a flat landscape covered by the typical coastal line vegetation. The area is dominated by patches of grassland, few shrubs and one mango tree. The soils are light dark brown characterized by clay, silt and sand.

Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder consultations were carried out accordingly. A meeting with a keyperson from the Government department on land administration was held. Another meeting with the head of division dealing with waste water and solid waste management at the Municipal Council was held. Besides meeting were held with the leader at the local level officially known as Sheha in Zanzibar, leaders at two utilities companies i.e, Zanzibar Water Authority and Zanzibar Electricity Corporation were also consulted.

A multidisciplinary team of experts considered all comments from interviewed stakeholders. Some comments pointed anticipated negative as well as positive impacts that may result from the development of the project. Some actually pointed to recommendations on how impacts may be mitigated.

Further analysis of stakeholders’ comments, revealed that:

• All interviewed stakeholders have a fair knowledge of the project site;
• The level of acceptance of the project among interviewed stakeholders is very high;
• Stakeholders share more or less the same opinion on the proposed project
• The proposed project has less or no environmental and social impacts
• Proper procedures of land acquisition have been followed hence no imminent conflict over the land

Negative impacts or concerns

• Noise pollution due to movement of construction equipments

Movement of trucks loaded with construction materials such as sand and aggregates, cement, steel and roofing sheets etc. will generate noise. Furthermore, anthropogenic noise sources are associated with constant human activities in the area and from motor vehicles. The noise levels measures in towns is usually around 50 to 55 dB during the day and 40 to 45dB during the night. Therefore, it is expected that average day time noise level will be around 53dB

• Air pollution due to dust

Movement of heavy earth moving equipment may cause air pollution due to dusts emission. This may affect workers health.

• Disposal of excess soil/spoil materials

Construction waste will be generated from excavation works for construction of foundation, trenches and drainage as well as burrowing and quarrying for construction materials.

• Degradation at Points of Sourcing Construction Materials

It is envisaged that construction materials e.g. concretizing materials (cement, bricks, etc), stones and sand for the permanent structures will be sourced from borrow pits and quarry sites available in rural areas. However, exploitation of local resources would be a matter of cumulative effect because they will only be contributing to a problem of over exploitation of materials at existing points of sourcing such materials.

• Occupational health and safety of construction workers

During construction, workers will be subjected to situations that could be detrimental to their health and safety. A few examples include:

• Injuries caused by handling of construction equipment, spills and leakage of hazardous materials.
• Emissions of dust from clearing and excavation works and fumes from vehicles and other machinery
• Noise from construction equipment

• Loss of aesthetic value due to Abandonment of infrastructure

The office building is usually planned to stay for a long time unless there happens unforeseeable events such as fire outbreaks or earthquakes which may destroy the building in a matter of minutes. OCGS may abandon the building hence rendering the project site unattractive.

• Loss of aesthetics due to haphazard disposal of demolished waste

Loss of aesthetics may result from the demolished waste remaining on site for a long time to the extent of becoming an eyesore.

Positive Impacts

• Benefit to local producers and suppliers of construction materials

Construction of office building and associated facilities will considered the use local contractors as well as local building materials available in the country. This will contribute to the boosting of income among local suppliers of materials, labourers and the economy of the country as a whole.

• Enhancement of productivity of OCGS

It is anticipated that efficiency of staff at the chief government statistician office will be improved due to availability of conducive working environment to be brought about by the construction of the new office building.

• Income, skills and knowledge increase to local labours

Labour force comprising skilled and unskilled labours will be needed to construct the

project. It is anticipated that all unskilled labourers will be recruited locally. Recruitment of skilled labour will vary, some from within the locality but mostly people of the contractor’s choice. Employment opportunities during construction work will increase the income, skills and knowledge to local labour force. Mostly men will benefit in this respect. Food vendors who are mostly women will benefit through supplying of food to the labourers.

Mitigation of impacts

• Noise pollution due to movement of construction equipments

To mitigate the impact, during construction, the contractor and project owner shall ensure that proper maintenance of machines and vehicles is done to minimize potentials for noise emission from engines. Equipments with engines that are not serviced regularly are more likely to cause much noise than regularly serviced ones. Furthermore, construction during the night will be avoided to ensure quietness in the neighbourhood at night

• Air pollution due to dust

In order to mitigate air pollution due to dust emission resulting from passing earth moving equipment especially during construction phase, water shall be sprayed on earth roads used by such equipments to suppress dusts during construction followed by paving of surfaces at the project site.

• Inadequacies in backfilling and resurfacing which result into erosion

To mitigate the impact, the contractor and the proponent shall ensure that, during construction, they:

• Adhere to engineering design and procedures to ensure that a minimum requirement of compaction strength is achieved during construction;

• Disposal of excess soil/spoil materials

To mitigate this impact, the contractor and the proponent shall:

• resurface and level debris in the course of compaction and construction of the foundation for the structures ,
• Ensure proper backfilling and resurfacing of the construction site. Light compaction will be necessary to stabilise the soil. Planting of grass on bare land to minimise erosion tendencies should be given priority.

• Degradation at Points of Sourcing Construction Materials

OCGS shall ensure that the contractor procure construction material from licensed suppliers to discourage those who may be extracting materials from unauthorized points.

• Occupational health and safety of construction workers

The following are the mitigation measures:

• Use of water sprinklers to suppress excessive dust during construction;
• Provision of appropriate protective gears to workers at site such as boots, helmets, masks, gloves, e.t.c
• The contractor shallmake provision and enforce use of protective gears.

• Mitigation of loss of aesthetic value due to abandonment of structures

As a mitigation measure against loss of aesthetic value, the government may either demolish the structures in an environmentally sound manner to restore the environment into its original appearance or construct a totally new building.

• Contamination and impairment of environment

To mitigate the impact during demolition, especially due to disposal of demolition wastes, the contractor and owner of building shall ensure that proper decommissioning procedures are adhered to including seeking requisite permits for transportation and dumping of demolition waste.

Environmental and Social Management

The EIS presents an outline Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for project. Much of the day to day responsibility for implementing environmental and social Plan will be closely supervised by the designated staff of OCGS.

Environmental and Social Monitoring Plan

The ESIA report presents an outline Environmental and social Monitoring Plan (EMP) for the project. This will assist OCGSespecially during construction to monitor (1) Implementation of the proposed mitigation measures and (2) the efficacy of the proposed mitigation measure.

Decommissioning

A preliminary decommissioning plan has been developed to assist the government of Zanzibar or its agency when the life span of the building reaches an end.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1General Background of the Project

The Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), which is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of finance and Economic Affairs of Zanzibar intends to construct an office building on its plot located at Mazizini area, Unguja. The proposed office construction project is in line with the Tanzania Statistical Master Plan (TSMP) aimed at developing the National Statistical System (NSS) through the following initiatives: (i) Institutional Reform; (ii) Human Resource and Capacity Development; (iii) Development of Statistical Infrastructure; (iv) Data Development and Dissemination as well as (v) Physical Infrastructure and Equipments improvement. The proposed project is also within the framework of a statistical reforms program with assistance and funding from the World Bank.

The proposed project is particularly aimed at solving the existing problem of inadequate office space and equipments at the current OCGS office building located at Mwanakwerekwe, Zanzibar.

1.2 Objectives of ESIA

To comply with the World Bank policy on safeguarding the environmentas well as the Zanzibar Environmental Management for Sustainable Development Act of 1996, the OCGS commissioned Assess Consulting Co. Ltd to undertake an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment study for the proposed project. The main objectives of ESIA study are:

• to ensure that environmental considerations are explicitly addressed and incorporated into the development of decision making process;
• to anticipate and avoid, minimise or offset the adverse significant biophysical, social and relevant effects of developmental proposal;
• to protect the productivity and capacity of natural systems and ecological processes which maintain their functions;
• to promote development that is sustainable and optimises resources use and management opportunities.

The specific objectives of the ESIA study are:

• To establish baseline information on both natural and built environment including socio-economic conditions of the proposed project area;
• To identify, predict and evaluate foreseeable impacts, both beneficial and adverse, of the proposed development;
• To develop mitigation measures that aim at eliminating or minimising the potential negative impacts and promote positive ones; and
• To develop management plan and monitoring plan for ease of reference during project implementation.

1.3Methodology ofthe Study

The methodology employed in collecting information for the ESIA study involved site observation, face to face interviews with stakeholders and literature review.