Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) Loan 1697-CAM: Primary Roads Restoration Project FINAL RESETTLEMENT AUDIT REPORT Prepared By: Romeo B. Cleto Resettlement Consultant Specialist October 2008 Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) ABBREVIATIONS ADB - Asian Development Bank AP/AH - Affected Person/Affected Household CAM - Cambodia CARM - Cambodia Resident Mission (ADB) DBST - Double Bituminous Surface Treatment DMS - Detailed Measurement Survey IRC - Inter-ministerial Resettlement Committee IRC-WG - IRC Working Group (IRC Resettlement Unit) km - Kilometer MEF - Ministry of Economy and Finance MOU - Memorandum Of Understanding MPWT - Ministry of Public Works and Transport NGO - Non-Government Organization NR - National Road PCR - Project Completion Report PGC - Provincial Grievance Committee ROW - Right-Of-Way RRP - Report and Recommendation of the President RP - Resettlement Plan SRP - Summary Resettlement Plan RU-IRC - Resettlement Unit - IRC Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) CONTENTS Page 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 3 A. Background 3 B. Subsequent Resettlement Issues Following Loan Effectiveness 8 C. The Resettlement Audit 9 2. STUDY DESIGN 13 A. Analytical Framework for the Resettlement Audit 13 B. Data Gathering Strategy 13 C. Data Processing and Analysis 15 D. The Resettlement Audit Team 15 E. Timeframe 15 3. FINDINGS 17 A. Resettlement Plan 17 B. Review of AP Records with RU-IRC 24 C. Field Interview 29 D. Focus Group Discussion 32 4. RECOMMENDATIONS 33 APPENDICES 1. Copy of Section VI, Assurances, of the RRP and the SRP 2. 30 June 2000 faxed letter of ADB declaring Loan 1697-CAM effective 3. 6 October 2003 letter of complaints of the NGO Forum 4. Summary of findings of the 14-15 October 2003 ADB resettlement review mission 5. 18 May 2005 letter of CARM to MEF introducing the Resettlement Audit Team 6. Master list of APs provided by IRC to the audit team 7. English translation of the audit household survey 8. 14 September 2007 letter of IRC informing CARM about the completion of payment of outstanding claims brought forward by the NGO Forum on behalf of the APs 9. Approval by MEF of the unit rates for compensating affected assets 10. Replacement cost study report 11. Contract of the external monitoring agency 12. Ledger of payments made to the EMA 13. Copy of 2 monthly reports of the EMA 14. June 2006 document faxed by IRC to CARM summarizing the number of compensated APs the total amount paid 15. Reconstructed master list of APs in NR 5 with DMS and payment records reviewed by the audit team 16. Reconstructed master list of APs in NR 6 with DMS and payment records reviewed by the audit team 17. Reconstructed master list of APs in NR 7 with DMS and payment records reviewed by the audit team 18. Compensated structures in NR 5 per DMS and payment records reviewed at IRC 19. Compensated structures in NR 6 per DMS and payment records reviewed at IRC 1 Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) 20. Compensated structures in NR 7 per DMS and payment records reviewed at IRC 21. List of APs interviewed in NR 5 with unpaid claims 22. List of APs interviewed in NR 6 with unpaid claims 23. List of APs interviewed in NR 7 with unpaid claims 24. Highlights of the focus group discussions TABLES Table 1-1 Communes Traversed by the Road Project ........................................................... 5 Table 3-1 Number of Affected Main Structures.....................................................................20 Table 3-2 Entitlements for Affected Land in ROW ................................................................21 Table 3-3 Inventory of Perennial Crops and Timber Trees in the COI...................................21 Table 3-4 Unit Costs of Affected Buildings............................................................................22 Table 3-5 Unit Costs of Affected Trees (in US$)...................................................................22 Table 3-6 Unit Costs of Affected Miscellaneous Structures ..................................................22 Table 3-7 Summary of APs and Allocated Compensation and Entitlements .........................24 Table 3-8 Summary of Compensated APs per IRC Report...................................................24 Table 3-9 Summary of Record of APs Reviewed by the Audit Team ....................................25 Table 3-10 Summary of Payments made for Acquired Buildings in NR 5..............................26 Table 3-11 Summary of Payments made for Acquired Buildings (NR6)................................27 Table 3-12 Summary of Payments made for Acquired Buildings (NR7)................................28 Table 3-13 Pursat Province (NR 5)......................................................................................29 Table 3-14 APs Interviewed by Survey Team in NR 5 (Not Found in the DMS List).............29 Table 3-15 Battambang Province (NR 5).............................................................................30 Table 3-16 Kompong Thom Province (NR 6).......................................................................30 Table 3-17 APs Interviewed by Survey Team in NR 6 (Not Found in DMS List) ..................31 Table 3-18 Kampong Cham Province (NR 7) ......................................................................31 Table 3-19 Kratie Province (NR 7).......................................................................................32 Table 3-20 APs Interviewed by Survey Team in NR 7 (Not Found in DMS List) ..................32 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Project Location Map.............................................................................................11 Figure 2: Typical Cross-section of the Road.........................................................................12 2 Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION A. Background 1. Loan 1697-CAM (Primary Roads Restoration Project) was approved by the Bank on 21 September 1999 and the Loan Agreement signed on 4 November 1999. As a condition for loan effectiveness, the Government had to submit an updated resettlement plan (RP) acceptable to the ADB, which it did in June 2000, paving the way for the Bank to declare the loan effective on 30 June 2000. The Ministry of Public Work and Transport (MPWT) was the executing agency. 1. Project Location a. National Road (NR) 5 2. NR5 starts from Phnom Penh and follows a northwestern course to the west of the Tonle Sap (Lake) before ending in Poipet at the border with Thailand. The road traverses the provincial capital towns of Kompong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, and Sisophon. Lowland rain-fed rice farming, along with sugar palm cultivation and raising cattle, is the main economic activity in most areas traversed by the road. The Province of Battambang is a major rice-producing area. Also, the provincial capital towns of Pursat and Battambang are major commercial centers. Battambang is a key transit point of goods and people to and from Thailand. NR5 is a major road artery that links Thailand with Phnom Penh and Vietnam. b. National Road (NR) 6 3. NR6 starts from Phnom Penh, initially following a northward direction before turning northwest at Kompong Thmor, Province of Kompong Thom, running to the east of the Tonle Sap before ending at Sisophon, Province of Battambang, where it joins NR5 close to the Thai border. c. National Road (NR) 7 4. NR7 breaks off from NR6 at Skun, Province of Kompong Cham, generally following an eastern course until Krek, near the border with Vietnam, from where it curbs northward to the border with Laos in the Province of Stung Treng. NR7 crosses the provinces of Kompong Cham, Kratie, and Stung Treng. The section of NR7 that is covered by Loan 1697 starts from Thnol Totoeung (also known as Chup) and ends at Kratie. (See Figure 1 for the Project Location Map) 2. Scope of Civil Works 5. Previous to the restoration Project, the 3 roads had a 4 ~ 6 m wide macadam pavement. Under the Project, the carriageway had been widened to 7 m of DBST (double bituminous surface treatment) pavement. Moreover, a 1.5 m sealed shoulder on each side and a roll over of 0.5 m at the edge of each of the shoulders had been provided. Flood- prone sections of the road had been raised on embankment to a height of 3 ~ 6 m. (See Figure 2 for the Typical Cross-section of the Road) 3 Resettlement Audit: Primary Roads Restoration Project (National Roads 5, 6, and 7) 6. Under Prakas (Order) No.6, the statutory road right-of-way (ROW) for NR5 is 60 m, while for both NR6 and NR7, the ROW is 50 m.1 However, Government decided to narrow down the corridor of impact (COI) between 25 ~ 26 m.2 Said corridor had been cleared of people and structures permanently. Civil works had all been completed in December 2005.3 The loan closing date was originally targeted on 31 January 2004 in the loan agreement. The actual closing of the project was 4 August 2006 and a completion report (PCR) was prepared in November 2006. a. National Road (NR) 5 7. Originally, the restoration of NR5 under Loan 1697-CAM was envisaged to start from Phnom Penh to Sisophon, to be carried out in 6 contract packages (i.e., 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, and 5E1). The scope of the restoration project was later modified to cover only contract packages 5B, 5C, 5E and 5E1. 5B had a length of 50 km, while 5C was 83 km long. Contract packages 5E and 5E1 were bridge construction works. The 20 communes traversed by the 133 km long section of NR5 that had been restored under the Project are shown in Table 1. b. National Road (NR) 6 8. Originally, the restoration of NR6 was to start from the point where NR7 breaks off from it at Skun, Province of Kompong Cham, heading northward up to the political boundaries of Kompong Thom Province and Siem Reap Province. The restoration works were to be carried out in 2 contract packages (i.e., 6A and 6B). The scope of the restoration project was later modified, however, covering only contract package 6B, which had a length of 70 km. The 10 communes traversed by the restoration of NR6B are shown in Table 1. c. National Road (NR) 7 9.