RP1429 MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SRI LANKA FINAL REPORT Resettlement Framework Community Development & Livelihood Improvement Project April 16, 2013 1. INTRODUCTION The Sri Lanka Community Development and Livelihood Improvement Project (CDLIP) of the Ministry of Economic Development aims at reducing poverty through the improvement of economic opportunities and well-being of the rural poor, empowering poor communities and establishing a strong social organization at the village level. The Project uses a community driven development approach to provide assistance to improve social and economic development of the target beneficiary villages. The Phase I of the programme has focused on delivering essential small-scale social infrastructure and services to the rural poor in addition supporting localized livelihood sub-projects. Based on ethically framed five non- negotiable principles and ten golden rules, the implementation arm of the project, the Gemi Diriya Foundation has been able to mobilize the community over 1000 villages in a period of less than four years during the Phase I of the project. Under the Phase II of the Project, it is expected to harmonize with the Gama Neguma programme and scale up the approach at the inter-village Pradeshiya Sabha level. The convergence with Gama Neguma means that Phase II programmes will move beyond the intra-village focus of Phase I to target both intra and inter-village development. Phase II will be covering 12/9 districts including 5 of the Phase I districts. Given the planned scale and scope, the Phase II will likely require some modifications to the Phase I Environmental and Social Management Framework. 1.1 Project Scope Project scope includes five components. Component 1: Village Development Working in three sub-components- Development and Strengthening of Village Organizations (VOs), Funding Community Sub-projects and Strengthening Federation and Partnerships- this component will develop self-reliant and self-managed rural people’s organizations (including producers’ federations) that can prioritize, plan and carry out village development. The activities under the component would include capacity building, social and community infrastructure activities, and livelihood improvement investments in their communities. Formation, Development and Strengthening of Community Based Organizations: The goal of this subcomponent is to develop self-reliant, self-managed and sustainable people’s organizations for community development and livelihood improvement in the rural areas. Activities to be financed under the sub-component will include: (a) facilitation support by the Divisional Facilitation Team; (b) support by community resource persons and other institutions with expertise in CBOs’ capacity building; (c) Workshops and trainings to community members, CBOs, and /mobilizers on institutional building, preparation of Village Development plans, preparation and appraisal of sub projects, community monitoring, general principles of financial management, environmental management and community procurement and so on; (d) Capacity building of community resource persons; ; (f) Community Sub Projects: This sub-component will finance four main activities: (i) Capacity Building Fund; (ii) Community and Social Infrastructure Activities and Services; (iii) Income Generating Activities, and (iv) Incentive Fund. (i) Capacity Building Fund: The Fund consists of 10% of the budget envelope. Funds are transferred directly to VOs on receipt of the proposals. The objectives of this sub-component are to encourage a paradigm shift from supply driven to demand driven capacity building inputs and to ensure communities’ access to financial resources to actively plan and Page 1 manage their development plans (including partnerships with the private sector). It is designed for communities to maintain a cadre of /resource persons to assist them in developing participatory and inclusive Village Plans and in managing their own organizations; to secure services from a wide range of service providers, to ensure technical soundness and feasibility by accessing technical services; to access experts in the field of enterprise development and market linkages, and to enhance the skills base of /resource persons and ’/VOs office bearers in areas like book keeping, financial management, community procurement, environmental management, sub-project planning and implementation. (ii) Community and Social infrastructure Activities and Services: The objectives of this sub-component are to ensure inclusive and participatory processes in the identification, prioritization and planning of community infrastructure and social services; to empower the communities to manage execution of the identified infrastructure activities; and to expand the scope of social services already accessible to the communities. It is designed to facilitate communities to identify their priority needs for improving quality of their lives. This process of identification and prioritization calls for community cohesion, participation of all the members and sensitivity to the needs of the poorest and the vulnerable. The communities will also be made aware of the project appraisal process so that their sub- projects will meet appraisal criteria. Communities will also be assisted in assessing environmental impacts of sub projects. This sub-component will finance identification of priority needs through a participatory approach and selection of interventions which meet the principle of equity, sustainability and productivity; formulation of sub projects on community and technically and financially feasible social infrastructure activities and services; appraisal of sub projects by the /District appraisers; and execution and monitoring of sub projects by ./VOs (iii) Income Generating Activities: The objective of this component is to develop sustainable micro-finance institutions at the community level able to meet their members’ credit requirements and to assist them in taking up a wide range of income generation activities. The sub-component will finance the following activities: (a) preparation by /VOs and appraisal by the /District Appraisal Team of sub projects for accessing the community investment fund for building micro finance institutions; (b) technical support by the National Core Team to expand income generation opportunities; and (c) the establishment by the District Coordination Committee and the National Core Team of linkages with formal financial institutions (Commercial banks in the Government and private sector) to meet the growing credit demand of the rural poor. (iv) Incentive Fund: This Fund is assigned to those villages that follow truly participatory and inclusive processes in their identification and prioritization of development activities. The objective of this component is to ensure that communities do not exclude the most vulnerable and voiceless groups (members of lower castes, women-supported households, refugees, alcohol-addicted, disabled, and so on) from the development process. Inter-village Connectivity development :The objective of this subcomponent is to improve the network of inter-village connectivity projects(roads) to secure better access of project villages to main roads and market places. Main activities to be financed by the sub- component include the following: (i) Identification of the inter-village /projects to be taken up; (ii) Work estimates by Technical Service Providers(TSPs) hired by Pradeshiya Sabha ; (iii) Page 2 Appraisal of proposals; (iv) Agreement between Pradeshiya Sabhas and the Project on works’ execution and release; and (v)’ execution and maintenance by Pradeshiya Sabhas. Capacity Building of National, District and Divisional Project Teams: The objective of this sub-component is to develop a shared vision and build required competences among project teams at national, district and divisional levels to enable them to perform their respective roles. This will be achieved by promoting experiential learning, exposure to the organized communities to demonstrate their strength and develop sensitivity to their needs. The project will identify the mix of skills, attitude, and orientation required for the project teams, the line agencies, Pradeshiya Sabhas, NGOs and private sector to respond to the needs of the rural communities. The focus shall be on the role these agencies can meaningfully play to nurture and empower rural communities. Project teams will receive intensive training on social mobilization, community participation, social capital, community based organizations, micro finance institutions, village development plans, environment management and Monitoring and Evaluation. The line departments will receive training on how to give space to the CBOs in the development agenda and on improving the quality of services to be provided to the rural poor. The Pradeshiya Sabhas will be facilitated to actively participate in the program and their capacities will be built to gradually replace the project teams and take over management of the program (2nd phase). Capacity Building of Support Organizations and Service Providers: The objective of this sub-component is to facilitate the active participation of NGOs and the private sector to expand livelihoods options of the poor. The project would invest in building their capacities to so as mould them to forge linkages with the rural communities. The project will identify the NGOs with considerable experience in nurturing community driven development and organize their exposure to project initiatives and facilitate their interaction with CBOs to establish linkages. Similarly, the private sector will be exposed to CBOs. Monitoring and Learning: The objective of this sub-component is to monitor performance (including implementation of the Environmental Management Plans) and progress of the project and to disseminate it among all stakeholders to enable them to effectively address project implementation issues. The sub-component will finance establishment and strengthening of a Monitoring and Learning system that will serve the needs of project agencies at all levels. The information will flow from community members to the Project Director through the Divisional Coordinator interfacing with Divisional Secretaries and service providers. The format for monitoring records will be designed with the participation of various stakeholders. Participatory techniques like beneficiaries’ self-assessments, focus groups and key informant discussions will particularly be used for process monitoring, on issues related to the evolution of sub-projects, their inclusiveness, transparency and the level of participation in project benefits and in decision-making processes. Process monitoring will be carried out by an external agency. The Monitoring and Learning Coordinator from the project team will anchor all related activities, such as Baseline survey, MIS, process monitoring, follow up studies, impact evaluation and community monitoring. Component 3: Enhancing Capacity of Local, Provincial, and National Agencies to be Demand Responsive This component will strengthen the capacity of local level agencies, provincial councils, national agencies, and support organizations to foster demand driven development. It will focus on making Pradeshiya Sabhas more accountable and responsive to the needs of the Page 3 poor by establishing participatory sub-committees (comprising 30% Pradeshiya Sabha elected members and 70% community representatives) responsible for the appraisal approval of inter-village investments, and certification of milestones for the release of funds. Component 4: Livelihood Innovation Fund This component will continue piloting innovative community and private sector ideas that need to be incubated and learned from to ensure they can be scaled up and replicated. The component will include both livelihoods development in rural areas and innovative urban- rural linkages- for example; partnership arrangements with urban service sector industries for skills development and job creation for rural youth, etc. Private Sector Linkages: The objective of this sub-component is to promote partnership with private sector so to widen the livelihood options for the poor and to promote micro enterprises. This subcomponent will finance the promotion of: (a) partnerships with the private sector to develop innovative enterprises; and (b) demand driven vocational training facilities to link up job opportunities for educated youths. Care would be taken to ensure that these linkages do not become a channel for exploitation of the unorganized and scattered small producers. Product Development/Test Marketing: The objective of this sub-component is to invest in some well-defined research studies to explore new opportunities in processing and value addition initiatives. This sub-component will finance the piloting of new micro enterprises and research in areas relating to post-harvest methodologies and non-timber forest produce and the development of new economic activities with value added products for livelihood improvement. The project’s interventions include measures to reduce the risks and production costs for VO members, improve their productivity, timely access to quality inputs, better prices for outputs, marketing tie-ups etc. Financial institutes would be encouraged to come up with special pro-poor rural credit packages with in-built insurance. Rural people need small shops set up by them with products tailored to their needs. The project would support large retail chains to train women in logistics and back and front-end operations. Information Technology Linkages: The objective of this sub-component is to secure communities’ access to emerging technologies to expand livelihoods options for the poor. It will finance activities leading to communities’ access to Information and Communication Technologies among others. Component 5: Project Management and Monitoring This component will support overall coordination, management, monitoring, and learning of the Project at the national, provincial and divisional levels. The management team of the, PMU the united management team will directly carry out functions related to policy formulation, monitoring and learning, building linkages with other government agencies and private sector, good governance and accountability. 1.2 The Project Area Based on an analysis of poverty incidence, as revealed by Household Expenditure and Income Surveys, all the districts in Ova and Southern Provinces and Rathnapura and Kegalle districts in Sabaragamuwa province,Polonnaruwa district in North Central province are selected for project implementation. The Project has been implemented in about 1000 village communities in approximately 510 GNDs in 6 districts in Uva, Southern and Sabaragamuwa provinces. CDLIP Phase II will expand to include additional villages in Page 4 other poorest divisions of the country. A collaboration model will be worked out for convergence with Gamaneguma, and the Phase II will move beyond intra village focus of Phase I to target both intra and inter-village development. Page 5 LEGAL, REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR LAND ACQUISITION AND RESTTELMENT IN SRI LANKA Sri Lanka is one of the leading countries in the South Asian region in enacting environmental legislations. Its concern for environment dates back to over two and a half millennia. The constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka under chapter VI Directive Principles of State policy & Fundamental duties in section 27-14 and in section 28-f proclaim “The state shall protect, preserve and improve the environment for the benefit of the community�, “The duty & obligation of every person in Sri Lanka to protect nature and conserve its riches� thus showing the commitment by the state and obligations of the citizens. 2.1 Act No. 13 of 1949 – State Land Ordinance The State Lands Ordinance provides necessary guidelines to: - The protection of the source, course or bed of any public stream - The protection of springs, reservoirs, lakes ponds lagoons, creeks, canals, aqueducts etc. - The construction or protection of roads, paths, railways and other means of internal communication. - The prevention of the erosion of soil. - The preservation of water supplies. In addition, section 75 of the State Land Ordinance highlights on riparian proprietors activities. The occupier of land or the bank of any public lake or public stream shall have the right to use the water in that lake or stream for domestic purpose and shall not be diverted through a channel, drain or pipe or by means of a pump or other mechanical contrivance but shall be removed in a bucket or other receptacle. 2.2 Land Acquisition Act (LAA) No. 9 of 1950 The private land acquisition for public purposes is guided by the provisions and procedures are outlined in the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) No. 9 of 1950. It was amended several times thereafter, the latest being the Amendment Act No 13 of 1986. Further the LA Regulations, 2008 were passed in Parliament on March 17, 2009 and issued in Gazette on April 7, 2009. The Act provides a framework for facilitating land acquisition within the country. It also guarantees that no person is deprived of land except under the provisions of the LAA and entitles affected persons to a hearing before acquisition. Usually, the land acquisition is time consuming and may take anywhere between a few months to about 2-3 years to complete the process. A major cause of delay in the land acquisition arises with respect to the compensation procedure with its attendant legal proceedings. There is also provision under section 38A of the LAA to acquire lands under an urgency clause. Minimizing land acquisition: The law 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. Several progressive provisions have been introduced in the LA Regulations of 2008 relating to provision of compensation for affected land at market rates, reconstruction cost of structure without depreciations, valuation for whole plot of land for determining proportional unit cost for the affected land parcel, business losses, relocation assistance etc. 2.3 National Involuntary Resettlement Policy Page 6 The above LAA only provides for compensation for land, structures and crops. It does not require project executing agencies to address key resettlement issues such as exploring alternative project options that avoid or minimize impacts on people, compensating those who do not have title to, but are currently using and dependent on, land, or implementation of income restoration measures aimed at the social and economic rehabilitation of displaced persons. It does not deal adequately with the impacts on those occupiers of lands who are not legal owners but whose lands are taken over for development purposes . To ensure that displaced persons are treated in a fair and equitable manner, and to particularly ensure that people are not impoverished or suffer unduly as a result of public or private project implementation Sri Lanka has adopted a national policy to protect the rights of all people affected by development projects. To remedy the current gaps in the in the LAA in addressing key resettlement issues, the Cabinet of Ministers approved on 16 May 2001, the National Policy on Involuntary Resettlement and enunciated its adoption to all development induced resettlement. The Ministry of Lands has the institutional responsibility for implementing the NIRP. The NIRP seeks to: a. Avoid, minimize and mitigate negative impacts of involuntary resettlement by facilitating the reestablishment the affected people on a productive and self-sustaining basis. The policy should also facilitate the development of the APs and the project; b. Ensure that APs are fully and promptly compensated and successfully resettled. The livelihoods of any and all displaced persons should be re-established and their standard of living improved; c. Ensure that no impoverishment of people shall result as a consequence of compulsory land acquisition for development purposes by the state; d. Assist APs in dealing with the psychological, cultural, social and other stresses caused by compulsory land acquisition; e. Make all APs aware of processes available for the redress of grievances that are easily accessible and immediately responsive, and f. Have in place a consultative, transparent and accountable involuntary resettlement process with a time frame agreed to by the project executing agency and APs. It is envisaged that NIRP enables the establishment of a framework for planning and implementation of the accordingly, the GOSL has directed that the scope of NIRP applies to all development induced land acquisition, or recovery of possession, by the state. NIRP requires that a comprehensive resettlement action plan be prepared where twenty or more families are affected. Even for instances where less than 20 families are affected, the NIRP still requires a plan which may be prepared in less detail. The policy applies to all projects regardless of the source of funding. Page 7 THE WORLD BANK OPERATIONAL POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS 3.1 Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.12) As is the experience with the Phase I, the question of triggering this policy will not arise in the case of the rehabilitation of rural roads, social mobilization and livelihood components of the project as they do not require land acquisition. In the case of rural roads, the project will finance the rehabilitation of existing village which do not require acquisition of private lands. The community mobilization activities of the project foster local organizational development and the livelihood activities are mainly associated with income generating, household level micro-enterprises such as livestock and poultry rearing, home-garden cultivation and small scale private trading, which do not require land acquisition. In the case of the construction of community centres and drinking water wells, the Divisional Secretaries will allocate state lands within the village. Therefore the involuntary resettlement policy (OP 4.12) could potentially arise only in the case of rehabilitating tanks where tank beds (land owned by the state) have been encroached and cultivated by people. Once, a tank is rehabilitated, it is likely that tank bed area will get inundated and the tank bed lands will not be available for cultivation. This could affect the livelihoods of people dependent on it and such a situation warrants that the project/ state address the issue. Number of persons involved and the area under tank bed cultivation should be recorded, and provided with equivalent alternate lands either in the command area (if technically feasible) of the rehabilitated tank or in the nearby vicinity. In the event that land acquisition is unavoidable, the land acquisition process, consultation and compensation procedures and principles will be as per Sri Lankan Governmental and Bank policies. . However, the experience of phase 1 shows those small plots of private lands were obtained for community water supply schemes and community centres through voluntary land donations. If voluntary land donations off private lands are made, due records would be maintained to ascertain voluntariness of such donations. Page 8 4. PHASE II SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK 4.1 Land Acquisition and Application of Social Safeguards Social review will be carried out to analyse how the community is affected by the subproject identified as a priority need of the local communities. The project activities would be identified by the communities through a transparent participatory need assessment and planning process through the development of VDPs and PSDP. The affected people will be consulted in a meaningful way and allowed to participate actively in the consultation process. Social assessment is the instrument used to analyse social issues and solicit stakeholder views for the design of subprojects. The social assessment’s objective is to increase the likelihood of achieving subproject’s intended social outcomes, insuring their efficiency and equity. To achieve this objective, the likely positive and negative social impacts of the reconstruction activities planned will be assessed, particularly on vulnerable groups, as well as the level of awareness, concerns and attitudes of people towards these planned activities. Social assessment will identify stakeholders and their expectations, interests or concerns. Assessments will be also carried out in reference to social risks of subprojects and recommended design changes or mitigation measures or action best able to manage those risks during implementation. Most of the subproject activities such as rehabilitation of rural roads, income generating activities such as household level micro-enterprises will not require any land acquisition. In the case of construction of community centres, drinking water wells the Government will allocate state lands within the village. Project also expects to obtain small pieces of lands through voluntary donations from individuals/beneficiaries. Where public lands are not available or land donations are not possible for infrastructure development, the option of getting land through willing buyer-willing seller at negotiated process without force will be adapted. According to the experience of Phase 1, the majority of land that have been acquired belong to the state land category and have not imposed any procedural issues. Nevertheless there have been instances of acquiring private lands and lands belong to religious organizations such as temples. It is also reported that project has experienced some difficulties in getting lands for road widening from private estate owners and those owned by the Land Reform Commission (LRC). However, the need for land acquisition in specific subproject areas will only be known during project implementation when subproject briefs are available. The subproject proposals that would require acquisition of productive lands and demolition of structures will be carefully reviewed to minimize or avoid their impacts through avoidance or minimization process. All possible options that have least impacts in terms of land acquisition will be explored, however, in unavoidable extreme cases, land acquisition will be carried out in accordance to the Land Acquisition Act which describes the legal procedure to be followed through, in acquisition of land for a public purpose. When a land in any area is needed for any public purpose, Land Acquisition Act of No. 09 of 1950 has provided provision for the acquisition of such lands. The LA Act has laid down the procedure for such land acquisition and to provide Page 9 for matters connected with or incidental to such provision. The LA Act was amended by No. 39 of 1954, 22 of 1955, 28 of 1964, 20 of 1969, 48 of 1971 and No. 8 of 1979. Some of the shortfalls and the difficulties with using the 1950 LAA for time-bound development projects are widely recognized by project execution agencies of GoSL and the donors supporting development projects in Sri Lanka. This led to formulation of a National Involuntary Resettlement Policy (NIRP), by taking into consideration the resettlement principles and guidelines of major donors, including the World Bank. Amendments to the 1950 LAA have also been recommended to complement provisions of the NIRP and facilitate preparation and implementation of the land based development projects. The NIRP has been adopted by the government, but the amendments to the acquisition act remain to be incorporated. Under the circumstances, the land acquisition process must make use of the country’s existing LAA, the NIRP and the Bank’s OP 4.12. 4.2 Land Acquisition Principles to be Adopted under the project In keeping with the resettlement objectives and to avoid or minimize potential disruptions to the peoples’ livelihood, land acquisition will be guided by the following principles: .  Alternative designs will be carefully considered to avoid or minimize land acquisition in general and particular attention will be paid to using minimum of private lands, and as much of public lands as possible.  Sub-projects will be designed to avoid or minimize acquisition of buildings/ structures that house business/commercial activities. Partial dismantling of business premises in small townships and other places will be done in consultation with the owners and in ways that would not threaten the structural stability of the remainder. .  In all times possibility will be sought to find land from crown land and department of land will be consulted in all matters related to land acquisition.  Alternative designs will be considered not to affect objects and sites like places of worship, cemeteries, and buildings/structures that are considered socially and religiously important.  Voluntary donation of lands for community facility improvement will be considered: In case of voluntary land donation, the Project will ensure following:  that the land is free of any structures or assets;  so small an area that its donation does not negatively impact the livelihood of the owner;  the voluntary nature of donation is fully and independently verified;  that the land is unencumbered, of squatters and conflicting claims;  that community based mitigation measures are acceptable; Page 10  that a grievance redressal system is in place;  that the person(s) give up all claim to the donated land and that the land is  transferred in the name of the Government /Department. All the land donations will be followed through signing of MOU between donate and the project executing institution. The consent letterers of land donated will be attached with sub project plan and verified through physical screening of social staff of the project 4.3 Impact Mitigation Principles The mitigation principles and guidelines proposed below are based on the provisions adopted in the National Involuntary Resettlement Policy of Sri Lanka, and the Bank’s OP 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement.  Where displacement is unavoidable, resettlement of the PAPs will be planned and developed as an integral part of the project and will be implemented as a development program.  Homestead-losers, including the households living on public lands without Authorization, will be given the options of physical relocation in similar locations of their choice, or in designated resettlement sites, and will be assisted with relocation.  The relocation sites, wherever needed, will be selected in consultation with the potential resettlers, and will be provided with the social and community facilities similar to those used previously. All efforts will be made not to take the PAPs far away from their residual lands, if any, and the existing sources of income and livelihood.  For compensation and assistance, encroachers who have been regularized by GoSL, and those who have earned prescriptive rights to public lands they presently use, will be treated as landowners with legal titles to the lands.  Absence of legal title will not be considered a bar to compensation for non-land assets created by public land users2.  Vulnerability of the PAPs, in terms of economic, social and gender characteristics, will be identified and mitigated with appropriate policies.  Where community-wide impacts are caused in the form of affecting community facilities, restricting access to common property resources, and the like, the project will rebuild such facilities and provide for alternative accesses.  The project executing agency will bear the costs of land acquisition and resettlement. 4.4 Impact Mitigation Modalities Where the most preferred “land-for-land� option is not feasible, the compensation for lands will be fixed at their replacement value, and for other affected properties at replacement Page 11 costs or market prices. The following types of compensation/entitlement will be paid for losses expected to be caused by the project.  Compensation for the acquired lands legally owned, or on which the current users are regularized or qualified to prescriptive right (by use of public lands for at least 10 years), which include residential plots, agricultural and other lands ,will be paid at ‘replacement costs’ to be determined by the Land Resettlement Committees (LRCs) headed by the Divisional Secretaries.  Replacement costs will include registration costs or stamp duties in cases replacement of the affected lands and other assets involve such costs, subject to actual replacement.  Loss of houses/structures and other immovable assets of value, which are to be rebuilt, will also be compensated for a replacement costs.  Loss of other assets like trees, which cannot be replaced, will be compensated for at current market prices at the time of first acquisition notification.  Compensation for affected orchards and similar commercial plantations will take into account the loss of investment and income.  Cut-off dates will be established to determine compensation eligibility of persons and their assets. These are the dates on which census of the affected persons and their assets will be taken. Assets like houses/structures and others which are created, and the persons or groups claiming to be affected, after the cut-off dates will be ineligible for compensation.  Where acquisition causes displacement from homesteads, the project will encourage for and assist with self-relocation. Where self-relocation is infeasible, the project will arrange for lands to relocate, and provide for basic social and physical infrastructure.  Owners of the affected businesses will be compensated for temporary loss of income based on net income for a reasonable period of time, or a one-time lump sum grant.  Where rented businesses premises are affected, the business owners will be paid an ‘advance rent’ for a reasonable period of time, as determined by LRCs. `  Employees of the affected businesses, who have been continuously employed for a certain period of time up to the cut-off dates, will be compensated for temporary loss of income for a reasonable period of time.  Loss of rental income from rented-out business and residential premises situated on private lands will be compensated for a reasonable period of time, as determined by LRCs. The project will identify and implement policies to mitigate any adverse impact those are unique to any project locations and have so far remained unknown.  Compensations/entitlements due to the PAPs will be paid in full before they are evicted from the acquired private and public lands. Page 12 4.5 Project Affected Persons (PAPs) As follows from the proposed mitigation principles and modalities, the following persons/households/entities will be entitled to financial and other forms of compensation and assistance. It is to be noted that depending upon the types of losses a PAP may be entitled to more than one form of compensation. Private Land and Other Property Owners: Legally-recognized owners of affected lands and other assets built and grown on the acquired lands. Legal owners will be identified by the Divisional Secretaries. Regularized Encroachers: Those who have been regularized on the public lands acquired or taken back for the project, as determined by the Divisional Secretaries. Persons with Prescriptive Rights on Public Lands: Those who have been using the public lands for at least 10 years, as identified by the Divisional Secretaries. Informal Users of Public Lands (Squatters & Encroachers): Residing on public lands and/or using such lands for income earning purposes. Owners and Employees of Affected Businesses: For a reasonable period of time, subject to certain conditions (See Impact Mitigation Modalities). Rental Income Earners: From rented-out premises situated on private lands, for a certain period of time (Certain conditions will apply– see Impact Mitigation Modalities). Owners of Businesses in Rented Premises: Where businesses housed in rented premises are displaced by the acquisition. Persons with Usufruct Rights: Owners of business and other activities on formally leased-in public lands. Community or Groups: Where local communities and groups are likely to lose income earning opportunities or access to crucial common property resources, special development programs will be undertaken to provide alternatives to restore and improve their livelihood. 4.6 Compensation Payment As the lands will be acquired by using the present acquisition act, the Divisional Secretaries will pay all mandated compensation to all affected persons recognized by LAA. PS will pay all other compensations/entitlements that have been stipulated beyond the jurisdiction of acquisition act, to all eligible affected persons/households, such as titleholders, regularized encroachers, prescriptive right holders, and informal public land users. 4.7 Consultation and Information Dissemination Stakeholders are those who have direct interest in the project and who will be participating in the consultative process. As the initial step it is necessary to identify the primary and secondary stakeholders. The project executing agency, In this case Pradeshiya Sabah (PS), will ensure that all would-be affected persons ,titleholders, encroachers and those who Page 13 have earned prescriptive rights to public lands, and informal users (squatters) of public lands, are consulted about the impacts of the proposed acquisition and recovery of possession of the lands that may have been under unauthorized private uses; proposed impact mitigation policies; and the process that would be followed to implement them. Consultations will be carried out with all stakeholders and through community meetings, which will seek active participation of the local government and administration officials. Focus group discussions will be carried out in particular with adversely affected persons/households. Discussions will especially focus on the provisions of the acquisition act, vis-à-vis the rights and responsibility of the affected property owners; the impact mitigation policies and the measures that have been stipulated beyond the LAA; and the mechanisms adopted to implement them. In addition, ccommunity meetings will be held in each affected district and village to inform the local population of their rights to compensation and options available in accordance with these Guidelines. Stakeholder consultations will be an on-going activity during the planning and implementation stages of the project/sub project. Stakeholder consultation will be inclusive of all groups (particularly women, vulnerable groups and local minority groups), participatory and transparent. The Minutes of the community meetings shall reflect the discussions held; agreements reached, and include details of the agreement The project executing agency will ensure that all stakeholders are consulted and informed about the project’s expected impacts, proposed impact mitigation policies, and implementing process that would be followed. However depth of consultation and discussions will depend upon PAPs’ present knowledge of the acquisition act and the necessity and interest to learn more about it. The discussions will at least cover the following:  A brief overview of the 1950 Land Acquisition Act, with an emphasis on the legal notices under the sections that directly concern the landowners, and their legal rights  Types of affected persons as recognized by the LAA.  Types of losses eligible for compensation under the LAA.  Valuation of affected assets: preparation of the compensation claims at open market prices; inquiry into the claims by the Divisional Secretaries and further assessments by the Valuation Officers.  Compensation payment process.  Any other issues/topics concerning land acquisition and compensation.  Grievance Redress system to make complaints and feedback on land acquisitions and related issues The implementing agency shall provide a copy of the minutes to affected people and confirm in discussions with each of them, their requests and preferences for compensation, agreements reached, and any eventual complaint. Copies will be recorded in the posted project documentation and be available for inspection during implementation support missions. Page 14 4.8 Abbreviated Resettlement Framework Since project does not expect large scale relocation or land acquisitions for its interventions, separate RAP /-R-RAPs are not prepared at this stage.. However, in compliance of the Bank’s Operational Policy 4.12, in case of less than 200 Project Affected People (PAPs), Abbreviated Resettlement Plans will be prepared in order to restore housing and issue economic compensation for loss of land and livelihood through a consultative and mutually agreeable process ( See Annex – for the preparation of A- RAP) 4.9 Social Audit A social audit will be carried out to assess the compliance of social safeguard procedures stipulated in the ESMF. This will review all land acquisitions including the land donations to check the due diligence and documentations. An independent consultant will be hired for this purpose 4.10 Grievance Redress Mechanism The Land Acquisition Act allows the persons with ‘interest’ in the acquired lands to challenge the decision of the acquiring officers (Divisional Secretaries) to the courts of law, such as District Courts and Supreme Court, and finally to the Board of Review. But those who are displaced from public lands do not have a right to bring their grievances to any institutional entities. Then there could be issues and grievances which would hardly qualify as legal, but they need to be resolved somehow. Thus the Bank policy requires the borrowers to establish mechanisms to deal with issues and grievances that might be raised by all affected persons, including the informal users of public lands. The procedure is meant to reduce the incidence of expensive and time consuming litigation involving minor issues among the landowners, and to give an opportunity to those not covered by the LAA. A Grievance Redress Mechanism will be established under the project to receive and resolve land related grievances. The procedure will seek to resolve an issue quickly, amicably, and transparently out of courts in order to facilitate the land acquisition and compensation determination and payment processes, and save the PAPs from resorting to expensive and time consuming legal actions. Since most of the land related issues arise from inter connectivity infrastructure subprojects, the Local Authority would be the ideal entity to implement a GRM. Thus grievance redress committee (GRC) will operate at Local Authority level. It will consist of government officials, religious leaders, CBO/CSO representatives. The Public Relations Officer (PRO) is the first contact point for the public/PAPs to lodge complaints/grievances. The complaints received from public including PAPs will be reviewed monthly and actions will be taken to resolve issues amicably as much as possible .The decisions made by GRCs will be binding on the project execution agency. To instil confidence and trust in the procedure, the convener will ensure that Page 15 all grievance decisions are made in formal hearings and that the individual GRC members are not contacted by the aggrieved PAPs or stakeholders in advance. The convener will have the authority to ensure impartiality, fairness and transparency. The GRC will record the details of the grievances and the reasons that led to acceptance or rejection of the particular grievances, and will make them available for review by the IDA supervision missions and other interested persons/entities. Page 16 Annex 1. Sub Project Brief Format Sub-Project: Sub-Project Type: Eligibility – Y/N General Description of the Sub-Project: (Including justification) Name of the VO/PS: EPL: Y/N Baseline Description of the Environment: (Including potentially impacted parameters) Environmental Information: Activity Impact Severity Duration (N,M,S) (T,P) Site/location Pre-implementation During Implementation Post Implementation Operation & Maintenance N – Negligible M – Moderate S – Severe T – Temporary P - Permanent Social Information: Land acquisition Relocation Indigenous people HEC Rapid Environment Assessment: Attached Subcommittee VO/PS (Observations) Recommendation: Clearance: Y/N Recommended Subjected to: Detailed EA Required: Y/N Not Recommended: Incomplete/Ineligible Technical /mobilizer Project Appraiser Page 17 Annex 2- Social Screening Checklist Not Remarks Checklist for Probable Involuntary Resettlement Effects Yes No Know n 1 Will the sub project include any physical construction work? 2 Does the sub project include upgrading or rehabilitation of existing physical facilities? 3 Is the sub project likely to cause partially or fully damage to, or loss of housing, shops, or other resource use? 4 Is the site for chosen for this work free from encumbrances and is in possession of the implementing agency? 5 If any land required for the work is privately owned, will this be purchased or obtained through voluntary donation? 6 If the Land parcel has to be acquired, is the actual plot size and ownership status known? 7 Is land for material mobilization or transport for the civil work available within the identified work site / Right of way? 8 Are there any non-titled people (encroachers/Squatters) who are living/ or doing business who may be partially or fully affected because of the civil works? 9 Will there be damage to agricultural lands, standing crops, trees? 10 Will there be any permanent or temporary loss of income and livelihoods as a result of the civil works? If so for what period? 11 Have these people/ business who may suffer temporary loss of incomes or livelihoods been surveyed and identified for payment of any financial assistance? 12 Will people permanently or temporarily lose access to facilities, services, or natural resources? 13 Will there be any other temporary impacts? please describe 14 Have measures been planned to mitigate temporary impacts including ease of access? Give details 15 Does the local body/DS have its own procedures for land acquisition? 16 Are any indigenous people affected? 17 Whether the affected land/structure owners likely to lose less than 10% of their land/structures area? 18 If so, are theses land/structure owners willing to voluntarily donate the required land for this sub- project? 19 Will there be any impacts on cultural, community properties or facilities? What mitigation measures will be taken? 20 Is project expect volunteer donation of lands from individuals 21 The land to be donated is less than 10% of their land/structures area? 22 If Yes How much ( extent) of land to be obtained through donation 23 Number of persons/plots expected to volunteer lands 24 Do necessary documents ( consent letters) prepared and legally validated/endorsed by DS 25 Describe any relevant details of land acquisition/ donation/impacts etc Page 18 Annex 3. Potential Social Issues and Mitigation Measures Sector Subproject Potential impacts Social Typical Mitigation Measures & type of Concerns activities Roads Construction Encroachment into Need to protect Avoid cultural and historical sites of Rural Cultural and Historical historical and Roads sites cultural values Hazard to health of Use minimum Prior notice to affected workers and community time period for community, position the due to noise and such activities equipment as far as practical vibration from noise sensitive areas, use new machineries to maintain minimum noise level Heavy traffic due to Local police is Use local police to minimize the material transportation/ responsible to impact loading and unloading. minimize the impact Road accidents due to Sign boards The security and sign boards construction activities and security need to placed, slope of burrow fence need to areas necessary to maintain at established an angle of repose which to ensure the stability of the area. Contamination of soil and Health hazards Plant machinery and equipment water by fuel and due to water must be services as per lubricants pollution preventive maintenance schedule. All the machinery and equipments need to supervise and monitor by responsible person, prior to start daily works Disruption of drinking Prior notice Consumers shall be noticed in water supply required. advance, if there is a possibility Immediate for quality or quantity of water breakdown adversely be affected due to the establishment construction activity is essential Loss of electricity and Prior notice Consumers shall be noticed in telecommunication required. advance, if there is a possibility Immediate for and disruption due to the breakdown construction activity establishment is essential Abundant burrow pits It will greater Selection of the Site need to negative sufficient distance from the impacts on human settlement human life Disposal of harmful Possible to All the chemicals, oil should not construction waste pollute ground to release freely to the ground. water Water Construction Encroachment into Need to protect Avoid cultural and historical sites of Drinking Cultural and Historical historical and water supply sites cultural values scheme Hazard to health of Use minimum Prior notice to affected workers and community time period for community, position the Page 19 due to noise and such activities equipment as far as practical vibration from noise sensitive areas, use new machineries to maintain minimum noise level Heavy traffic due to Local police is Use local police to minimize the material transportation/ responsible to impact loading and unloading. minimize the impact Conflicts in water supply Equal Careful operations planning of rights, distribution minimize problems Contamination of soil and Health hazards Plant machinery and equipment water by fuel and due to water must be services as per lubricants pollution preventive maintenance schedule. All the machinery and equipments need to supervise and monitor by responsible person, prior to start daily works Loss of electricity and Prior notice Consumers shall be noticed in telecommunication required. advance, if there is a possibility Immediate for and disruption due to the breakdown construction activity establishment is essential Contamination of agro Health hazards Maintain a baseline data base chemical and pesticides due to water on water quality for future pollution monitoring. Disposal of harmful Possible to All the chemicals, oil should not construction waste pollute ground to release freely to the ground. water Irrigation Construction Encroachment into Need to protect Avoid cultural and historical sites of irrigation Cultural and Historical historical and water supply sites cultural values scheme Hazard to health of Use minimum Prior notice to affected workers and community time period for community, position the due to noise and such activities equipment as far as practical vibration from noise sensitive areas, use new machineries to maintain minimum noise level Heavy traffic due to Local police is Use local police to minimize the material transportation/ responsible to impact loading and unloading. minimize the impact Irrigation Construction Disposal of harmful Possible to All the chemicals, oil should not of irrigation construction waste pollute ground to release freely to the ground. water supply water scheme Over use of irrigation Equal Careful planning, design and water distribution of operation irrigation water Damages to public health Water quality Maintain a baseline data base due to contamination by checking is on water quality for future agrochemicals required monitoring. Buildings Construction Hazard to health of Use minimum Prior notice to affected of workers and community time period for community, position the Page 20 multipurpose due to noise and such activities equipment as far as practical building vibration from noise sensitive areas, use new machineries to maintain minimum noise level Disposal of harmful Possible to All the chemicals, oil should not construction waste pollute ground to release freely to the ground. water Blockage of the internal Relevant Plan and implement waste water storm water system, authority need disposal system odour problems in the to pay attention vicinity and attraction of to minimize the Construction of soaking pits with insects, pollution of impact adequate capacity to retain ground water table due waste water without any outflow. to waste water disposal Covering the soaking pits to prevent harbouring of mosquitoes and other insects. Pollution of ground water Relevant Plan and implement solid and table and surrounding authority need garbage disposal system. environment due to to pay attention Discuss with local authorities to garbage disposal to minimize the collect solid and garages impact Sector Subproject & Potential Impacts Social Concerns Typical Mitigation type of Measures activities Roads & Land Loss of access to Loss of customary Avoidance or minimization Buildings acquisition livelihoods and traditional rights by identifying vacant public Loss of structures Affected population lands and exploring all Damages to standing need to know their other options. crops & plantations rights to Clear and transparent Loss of customary and compensation and communication traditional rights available options. mechanism. (option of voluntary Timely provision of Consultation and donation is available to compensation and participation during the assets owner) assistance. preparation of mitigation Remaining land may plans become Compensation for loss of uneconomical. assets at replacement Impact, if any on the costs public infrastructure Compensation and and social services. assistance to be made available prior to implementation. Rehabilitation assistance to improve livelihoods or at least to pre-affected level Special measures for vulnerable groups such as female headed households. Compensation and assistance, on the principle that affected people shall Page 21 not suffer net losses. Establish a grievance redress mechanism. Irrigation Inundation of Loss of access to Timely provision of Identification of equivalent tank bed area livelihoods compensation and and alternate lands in the Loss of access to assistance. command area or in the productive lands vicinity Loss of customary and Allow to harvest standing traditional rights. crop before tank rehabilitation is completed and water is impounded Assistance to temporary loss of land Special measures to protect vulnerable groups. *The above list is only illustrative and any additional activities will be mitigated in accordance with requirements and needs. Page 22 Annex 4: Abbreviated Resettlement Framework Since there is no specific sub projects identified yet for interventions, a separate RAP is not possible at this stage. Therefore Resettlement Framework is suggested to make use to prepare RAP/ A- RAPs as when necessary. In compliance of the Bank’s Operational Policy 4.12, in case of less than 200 Project Affected People (PAPs), an Abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan (A-RAP) will be prepared in order to restore housing and issue economic compensation for loss of land and livelihood through a consultative and mutually agreeable process. Principles to be followed in preparing A- RAP In preparing A-RAP following guidelines/principles to be followed  All land should be surveyed and mapped and agreement reached with government on explicit eligibility cut-off date.  Where land is disputed or land ownership is not clear, the land will be surveyed and a map hereof issued to the affected families. In case of land disputes, attempts should be made to settle disputes prior to project start.  Customary and collective rights, e.g. to grazing land and commons, should be verified and documented through community-level consultations and local authorities. Customary and collective rights are also subject to compensation.  Compensation for land, housing and assets are based on principles of replacement cost and mutually agreeable solutions based on consultative approach with PAPs.  Where affected land provide income, the equivalent to the value of the crop lost will be given in compensation, based on the value of the harvests lost until the replacement crop (e.g. fruit tress) come into full production.  If land forms basis for other income, the value of the income hereof will be subject to third party assessment  If PAPs are squatters/informal settlers on the land, they will receive economic/material compensation to re-establish themselves elsewhere (e.g. on government land) without suffering damage to their livelihood or living standard. Process to prepare RAP/ A-RAP 1. Survey of land and assets & census of Project Affected Peoples, including squatters and informal settlers:  the surveyed land and assets should be identified, marked and photographed,  and by the defined eligibility cut-off date the areas should be secured against encroachers.  the Project Affected People should be identified and registered with full data and photographs  a compensation package should be developed (categories of impacts and appropriate entitlements to formal and informal settlers landholders and squatters), and  initial consultations should be conducted to identify any salient issues or concerns impacting on affected people. Gender separate consultations should be conducted in order to properly ascertain the views of the women. Page 23 2. Calculation of individual entitlements. There should be continued consultations with the affected people regarding the project, land acquisition and compensation package in order to reach mutually agreeable solution to land/asset acquisition and/or shifting of house. In case any PAP refuses to shift, an abbreviated Resettlement Plan, compliant to OP 4.12, should be developed. 2. Tentative outline of RAP/ A- RAP report is as follows • Project Description • Potential Impacts of The Project • Policy Framework and Legal Framework • Land Acquisition Process • Consultation and Public Participation • Valuation of Assets • Entitlements • Relocation/Resettlement Planning • Compensation and Livelihood Restoration • Grievance Redress Mechanism • Resettlement Implementation plan • Monitoring and Evaluation • Resettlement Budget and Financing Plan 3. The abbreviated Resettlement Plan should be submitted to the Bank Task Team for review and clearance. Page 24