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Samoa for the Asian Development Bank Resettlement Plan April 2012 SAM: Power Sector Expansion Project Prepared by the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) of Samoa for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 15 April 2012) Currency unit – tala (ST) ST1.00 = $0.440 $1.00 = ST 2.272 NOTE (i) In this report, "$" refers to US dollars unless otherwise stated. This resettlement plan is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. Resettlement Plan Vaia’ata Power Station Sub-Project Resettlement Plan CHECK LIST BY WHOM/DATES SIGNATURE Final Version Tupai F M Simanu – PMU Electrical Engineer Generation (23/03/2012) Based on Version 2 Tupai F M Simanu – PMU Electrical Engineer Generation (8/02/2012) Including comments from Nogendra Sapkota (ADB Safeguard Specialist) Contributions by Tiatia Asi Tuuau – PMU LA Officer Moetuasivi Asi – PMU Community Officer Reviewed by Mathew Lemisio – ESU Team Leader Fonoti P Perelini – Acting Project Manager Approved by Project Executing Agency - Chief Executive Officer Ministry of Finance Project Management Unit Page 1 Resettlement Plan Table of Contents Executive Summary--------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-9 1.0 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 2.0 EPC Investigation Visits------------------------------------------------------------------10-11 3.0 Land Acquisition Overview--------------------------------------------------------------11-14 4.0 Scope of Project----------------------------------------------------------------------------15-16 5.0 Legal Framework---------------------------------------------------------------------------16-21 6.0 Socioeconomic Information-------------------------------------------------------------21-22 7.0 Institutional Arrangement---------------------------------------------------------------22 8.0 Public Consultation & Information Disclosure--------------------------------------23 9.0 Issues Raised by the Community-------------------------------------------------------23 10.0 Resettlement Budget and Financial Arrangement---------------------------------23-24 11.0 Implementation Schedule----------------------------------------------------------------25 12.0 Relocation & Restoration-----------------------------------------------------------------25 13.0 Entitlement Matrix-------------------------------------------------------------------------26-29 14.0 Monitoring-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------30-31 15.0 Presentation of the Resettlement Plan-----------------------------------------------31 16.0 Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------31-32 Project Management Unit Page 2 Resettlement Plan List of Tables Table 1 List of Affected Persons Table 2 Comparison of Samoan Laws and ADB policy Table 3 Estimate Budget for Resettlement and Compensation Table 4 Schedule for Compensation & Works Table 5 Affected Persons and Entitlement Table 6 Monitoring Matrix Project Management Unit Page 3 Resettlement Plan List of Figures Fig 1 Map of Savaii Fig 2 Closer Look at Site Location Fig 3 PMU Staff with Tapueleele Village APs Fig 4 PMU Staff with Puapua Village APs Fig 5 APs at presentation of RP Report Fig 6 APs signing the consent & support letter Project Management Unit Page 4 Resettlement Plan Appendices Appendix 1 Map of Land at Vaiaata site Appendix 2 Cabinet Secretariat Order of Cabinet Appendix 3 Survey of Subdivision Parcel Appendix 4 Confirmation Letter from SLC Appendix 5 Permit from LTA Appendix 6 Records of consultations with APs Appendix 7 Minutes of Consultation on 1 November 2011 Appendix 8 Cost and Benefits on Destruction of Plants Appendix 9 Involuntary Resettlement Impact Categorization Appendix 10 Consent Letters from Affected Persons Appendix 11 Receipt of the Final RP by Affected Persons Project Management Unit Page 5 Resettlement Plan List of Acronyms Project Management Unit Page 6 Resettlement Plan Executive Summary The new Diesel Power Plant for the island of Savaii will be built on government land at Vaiaata in the district of Faasaleleaga. This land has been officially handed over to the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) by the Samoa Land Corporation which has been administering it. The power station site is located S13° 30’26.6”, W172° 15’00.1”, about 260 meters above sea level. It is the most suitable location because; x It does not require acquisition x It is close to the main port of Salelologa x It is a sparsely populated area with the nearest residence about 2 km away from the where the station is going to be located x It is a central location for transmitting and distributing power A total of 96 people will be affected by this project. With the exception of one Magele Osa whose plantation is adjacent to the power plant site and parts of it are on the proposed access road, the rest of the Affected People (APs) are not affected as much. The road was proposed for the purpose of accessing land parcels further out from the main road; however Mr Osa has built part of his fence on it. There will be no land acquisition as all lands to be used by the project belong to the government. The power station site belongs to the Samoa Land Corporation (SLC); the land for the access road to the station also belongs to the SLC. The road reserve which will be used to erect poles for the extended power lines belong to another government body, the Land and Transport Authority (LTA). The land parcels that Mr Osa is farming on also belong to SLC and he has a lease with them. The effect on Mr. Osa is the removal of parts of his cattle fence which is encroaching on SLC land already surveyed for the construction of the access road for the inner parcels and the new power station. EPC has offered to rebuild his fence as well as adding two rights of ways on each side of the road. Mr. Osa has agreed and given his full support for the project. There were two farmers who were growing bananas and taro on the lands despite the fact that they did not have any lease with SLC. One, Mr Lagolago Peĩ had crops on the particular parcel which EPC is acquiring while Mr Muliaga Sefo’s crops were on another parcel. These two farmers have been identified by SLC as squatters. They have since left on their own free will and have been given an opportunity to apply for land and a proper lease. The rest of the APs are only affected because they have crops and trees growing on the government reserve or next to it. The latter case will cause a dangerous situation as high voltage lines close to trees produce hazards to people as well as increasing the possibility of damaging faults (earth and over current) to the system. There will be no easement into anyone’s land necessary as the high voltage lines route will remain on the road reserve. This is confirmed by the power lines survey already completed by the engineers from the Project Management Unit (PMU) of EPC. No one will be displaced or severely disadvantaged due to the construction of this project. There will also be no historical or cultural landscapes to be affected. On the contrary, the project is expected to create employment, improve the roads and most of all enable the rest of Savaii to be fully electrified. At the moment, the residents of Vaiaata do not get access to EPC power, so they rely on other means to produce electricity such as personal portable generators and to a lesser extent solar energy. EPC has received approval for the use of all lands for this project from the necessary government authorities. Support from the neighboring community and people whose crops will be affected has Project Management Unit Page 7 Resettlement Plan been really positive too. This is proven in the letters that they signed. The scope of the project consists of three major stages. The clearance of the site and installation of new power lines are part of Stage 1. It is proposed that all compensation will be carried out at this stage; however the monitoring will continue onto the other stages until the commissioning and completion of the project. A schedule for compensation has been drawn up and all compensation should be paid out to the APs by April 2012 taking into mind that all the surveying work will be completed by then. The goal is to have all of this settled before the actual construction begins. All government ministries which have a role to play such as the LTA, SLC and SWA have been consulted and made aware of the schedule of works. There were four main consultations hosted by the PMU in regards to Land acquisition and Resettlement. The first consultation was held in December 2010, the second on October 2011 and third on December 2011. The first one was a general community awareness which included both APs and those who have an interest in the project while the second focused directly on the individuals to be affected. Both consultations produced good results for EPC with the support that was given by the people consulted. The third visit was to survey the actual power lines route and which was then consulted with the APs. The fourth and final consultation
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