Eastern Sichuan Roads Development Project

Resettlement Planning Document

Resettlement Plan Document Stage: Final Project Number: 37490 June 2008

PRC: Eastern Sichuan Roads Development Project

The 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.

PRC: Eastern Sichuan Roads Development Project

Revised Short Resettlement Plan

For Local Roads Component 2007–2008

By Sichuan Provincial Communications Department Sichuan, PRC

May 2008

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND 1

CHAPTER 2 LAND ACQUISITION AND RESETTLEMENT IMPACTS 2

CHAPTER 3 LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND RESETTLEMENT POLICY 4

CHAPTER 4 RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMS 7

CHAPTER 5 RESETTLEMENT BUDGET 8

CHAPTER 6 RESETTLEMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION 9

CHAPTER 7 CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION, REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES 9

CHAPTER 8 MONITORING AND EVALUATION 10

FIGURE 1 MAP OF PROJECT AREA

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT BACKGROUND

1. The proposed Eastern Sichuan Roads Development Project includes the construction of (i) a 138 kilometers (km) expressway from Dazhou City to the Shaanxi border, (ii) 10 link roads with a length of 28 km, and (iii) a local road upgrading component comprising 30 sections with a total length of 402 km of township to village roads. One Resettlement Plan (RP) covers the expressway and related link roads, interchanges, toll stations, and service areas. This short RP covers the local road upgrading. The local road upgrading is an annual program; each year, a number of sections will have designs prepared and upgrading implemented based on this annual program. Prior to commencement of each annual upgrading program, Sichuan Provincial Communications Department (SPCD) will update this RP based on detailed design and measurement survey for those sections to be upgraded that year. The revised RP will be disclosed to APs and submitted to ADB for approval prior to commencement of civil works.

2. Local Road Upgrading. About 402 km of local roads were identified by SPCD from the local government’s Rural Road Development Plan. Of the selected 30 projects, 18 roads are Class III and 12 roads are Class IV (see Figure 1 and Table 1). All are existing local roads which will be upgraded from asphalt or gravel roads to concrete roads; the width of the road will be the same standard and no new bridges are required. The total cost is estimated to be CNY210.5 million. These local roads will be entirely financed by local government. Table 1 shows the proposed local roads grouped by county.

Table 1: List of Proposed Local Roads Class Class County Investment Town/Village Implementation Project Name III IV Name (1,000 CNY) Affected Period (km) (km) 1 Daxian S201 Beimiao-Jinshi 19.0 9,500 Jinshi 2006 2 Xuanhan Pingxikou-Baimagonglu 9.0 4,389 Baima 2006 3 Dongxiang-Qingxi 13.9 6,955 Qingxi 2010 4 Tuzhu-Puguang 3.8 1,897 Puguang 2007-2008 5 G210 Shuanghe-Liuchi 8.0 4,000 Liuchi 2007-2008 6 Fankuai-Santun 8.0 4,000 Santun 2007-2008 7 Shangsanhe-Huangshi 4.0 2,000 Huangshi 2009 8 G210 Dacheng-Hongling 13.3 6,647 Hongling 2007-2008 9 Hongling-Mingyue 9.0 4,485 Mingyue 2007-2008 10 Mingyue-Juntang 8.5 4,252 Juntang 2007-2008 11 Qili-Paishu 10.0 5,000 Paishu 2007-2008 12 Santun-Qishu 13.0 6,500 Qishu 2007-2008 13 Xuanhan-Donglin 12.0 6,000 Donglin 2010 14 Tianbao-Miao'an 14.8 7,410 Miao'an 2007-2008 15 Qili-Tianbao 8.5 4,250 Tianbao 2007-2008 16 Nanba-Tahe 7.0 3,500 Tahe 2007-2008 17 Tahe-Chahe 11.5 5,750 Chahe 2007-2008 18 Huangjin-Xinhua 20.0 10,000 Huangjin 2007-2008 19 Wanyuan Wulangxi-Shirengonglu 18.0 12,937 Shiren 2006 20 Baisha-Batai 25.0 18,200 Batai 2009

Class Class County Investment Town/Village Implementation Project Name III IV Name (1,000 CNY) Affected Period (km) (km) 21 Zhongping-Dasha 12.0 6,000 Dasha 2010 22 Dasha-Chaoba 20.0 10,000 Chaoba 2010 23 Chaoba-Weijia 6.0 3,000 Weijia 2010 24 G210 Changba-Shatan 19.0 9,500 Shatan 2009 25 Dasha-Shiwo 16.3 8,134 Shiwo 2007-2008 26 G210 Qinghua-Guanba 18.0 9,000 Guanba 2009 27 G210 Shiankou-Zengjia 9.0 9.8 9,400 Zengjia 2010 28 S302 Zhuyu-Kangle 13.0 6,500 Kangle 2010 29 S302 Dazhu-Linhe 15.5 7,750 Linhe 2010 30 G210 Shiankou-Hekou 27.0 13,500 Hekou 2010 Total 243.3 158.6 210,456 Source: SPCD.

Table 2: Proposed Local Roads Grouped by County County Name Proposed Local Roads (km) Total Investment Total Class II Class III Class IV (million RMB) Daxian 19 19 9.5 Xuanhan 174 99 75 87.0 Wanyuan 209 125 84 114.0 Total 402 243 159 210.5 Source: SPCD.

3. The 14 local roads will directly benefit 227,211 local people, of which3.17 % are poor (see Table 3).

Table 3: Beneficiaries of Local Roads Beneficiary Poor Poor(%) 227211 7200 3.17 Source: Dazhou Transport Bureau, the Design Institute.

II. ESTIMATION OF LAND ACQUISITION AND RESETTLEMENT IMPACTS

4. All of the 402 km of local road improvements involves only pavement of the existing asphalt or gravel roads with the existing alignments. According to the guidance about rural roads construction from the Ministry of Communications, construction of rural roads shall not occupy or occupy land as little as possible.

5. For 2006–2007, three local roads were upgraded. The design and upgrading work showed that there were no permanent land acquisition, no temporary land occupation and no impacts on houses (see Table 4).

6. Between 2007 and 2008, there are 14 local roads to be upgraded. The 14 local roads to be upgraded have been approved as upgrading projects by the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission. SPCD has included them in the annual subsidy plan. The design work has completed. The guidance from the Ministry of Communications about no land or less land was met. The Dazhou Minicipal Land and Resource Bureau reviewed the land use procedures of the

2 upgrading projects, the review conclusion shows that there is no permanent and temporary land acquisition of the 14 roads to be upgraded (pavement and upgrading), and no impact to any building (See Table 4).

7. The employer committee composed by the representatives of villagers is responsible for organization and implementation of local roads upgrading. The villager committee is responsible for coordination. In this way, villager's opinion will be listened as much as possible and the benefits of the affected people will be protected. If the temporary land use is necessary, the villager committee will coordinate for all the use of wasteland.

Table 4: Land Acquisition and Resettlement Impacts County Road Section Road Year Land Acquisition Temporary Beneficiaries Poor Length (ha) Structure (km) Permanent Temporary Demolition (m2) Daxian S201 Beimiao-Jinshi 19.0 completed 0.0 0.0 0 33000 3000 Xuanhan Pingxikou-Baimagonglu 9.0 completed 0.0 0.0 0 15628 300 Dongxiang-Qingxi 13.9 Tuzhu-Puguang 3.8 2007-2008 24275 800 G210 Shuanghe-Liuchi 8.0 2007-2008 22678 300 Fankuai-Santun 8.0 2007-2008 12752 800 Shangsanhe-Huangshi 4.0 G210 Dacheng- 2007-2008 13.3 Hongling 15489 200 Hongling-Mingyue 9.0 2007-2008 12955 200 Mingyue-Juntang 8.5 2007-2008 15778 100 Qili-Paishu 10.0 2007-2008 22219 200 Santun-Qishu 13.0 2007-2008 6856 400 Xuanhan-Donglin 12.0 Tianbao-Miao'an 14.8 2007-2008 7895 600 Qili-Tianbao 8.5 2007-2008 6579 100 Nanba-Tahe 7.0 2007-2008 21790 400 Tahe-Chahe 11.5 2007-2008 28989 900 Huangjin-Xinhua 20 2007-2008 18956 800 Wanyuan Wulangxi-Shirengonglu 18.0 Completed 0.0 0.0 0 3900 300 Baisha-Batai 25.0 Zhongping-Dasha 12.0 Dasha-Chaoba 20.0 Chaoba-Weijia 6.0 G210 Changba-Shatan 19.0 Dasha-Shiwo 16.3 2007-2008 0 0 0 6100 1200 G210 Qinghua-Guanba 18.0 G210 Shiankou-Zengjia 18.8 S302 Zhuyu-Kangle 13.0 S302 Dazhu-Linhe 15.5 G210 Shiankou-Hekou 27.0 Daxian 0 km 0.0 0 0 0 0 Sub-total by County Xuanhan 135.4 km 0.0 0 0 221111 6000 for 2007- Wanyuan 16.3 km 0.0 0 0 6100 1200 08 Total for 2007-08 151.7km 0.0 0 0 227211 7200

Total of 197.7km 0 0 0 279739 10800 2006-08 Source: Dazhou Municipal Transport Bureau, Land and Resource Bureau, Design Institute.

8. There is no land acquisition for the 14 local road upgrading. The pavement of the existing road will be upgraded. Thus there aren’t people who will be affected by loss of land and whose livelihood will not be affected, too. In addition, there is no need to dismantle any living house, as a result, there are any people who need be resettled.

III. LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND RESETTLEMENT POLICY

A. General

9. The preparation and implementation of resettlement for this Project shall follow the Laws and Regulations promulgated by the PRC and Sichuan Province, and also meet the requirements of ADB’s Involuntary Resettlement Policy. The Dazhou Land and Resource Bureau reviewed the land use procedures of the 14 roads to be upgraded in 2007-2008, Although there isn’t land acquisition, the compensation standards and resettlement measures as same as that of the expressway will be adopted for the local road upgrading.

B. Policies and Regulations

10. This RP follows the Laws and Regulations promulgated by the PRC and Sichuan Province, and also meet the requirements of ADB’s Involuntary Resettlement Policy. Policies and regulations to be followed include:

(i) The Land Administration Law of PRC (Promulgated by Order No.8 of President of the Peoples’ Republic of China on August 29, 1998, and effective as of January 1, 1999); (ii) Implementation Regulations for Land Administration Law of PRC (Promulgated by Order No.256 of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on December 27, 1998, and effective as of January 1, 1999); (iii) Decree on Public Hearings regarding State-owned Land and Resources (Order No. 22 of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China, effective as of May 1, 2004). (iv) Sichuan Province Implementation Method of PRC Land Administration Law (Promulgated on December 10, 1999 by Sichuan Provincial Government). (v) Opinion on How to Regularize and Adjust Land Compensation Standards (Issued in the order of No. 39 2004 by Sichuan Provincial Government) (vi) Notice on Insurance of Method of Collection and Use of Forest Restoration (Issued in the order of No.73 2002 jointly by Ministry of Finance and State Forestry Bureau) (vii) Method on Farmland Occupation Tax in Sichuan, (Issued by Sichuan Provincial Government on August 14, 1987) (viii) ADB’s “Involuntary Resettlement Policy” November 1995 and guidelines - “Handbook on Resettlement: A Guide to Good Practice” 1998. And ADB’s operational policy OM/F2-Involuntary Resettlement issued in 2003.

C. Project Resettlement Policy

11. Policies regarding compensation and resettlement for the affected persons (APs) are based on a combination of the PRC laws and regulations and ADB’s policy and requirements. 4

The primary objective of the RP is to restore the income and living standards of the APs in post- resettlement period as quickly as possible and with as little disruption possible in their own economic and social environment. The RP is prepared and will be implemented to meet this objective. Special attention will be given to address the needs of the poorest and other vulnerable groups to be resettled. Further, the need for involuntary resettlement will be reduced by following existing alignments and rights-of-way as much as possible, and when temporary land occupation is required for construction, vacant or wasteland will be used.

12. The resettlement principles adopted for this Project reflect the legal and policy requirements of the PRC and ADB. The adopted principles with regard to compensation, resettlement and income restoration are flexible enough, allowing for considerable variability from village to village. The key is to ensure that all APs receive adequate compensation and assistance to restore their incomes, living conditions and general livelihood in the post-resettlement period.

D. Legal Provisions on Permanent Land Occupation

13. Based on the proposed compensation standard during preparation of the project and the expressway compensation standard, the AAOVs for paddy in are set as 1,600 Yuan/mu for Tongchuan and Xuanhan and 1,500 Yuan/mu for Wanyuan; and the corresponding AAOVs for dryland are 1,000 and 900 Yuan/respectively. Since all project counties have a per capita farmland of below 1 mu, following the provisions1 in Sichuan Province Implementation Method of PRC Land Administration Law (1999) and Opinion on How to Regularize and Adjust Land Compensation Standards (2004), after consultation with affected counties, land compensation and land resettlement subsidy are preliminarily set at 20 times of AAOV, including 10 times of AAVO for land compensation and the same for resettlement subsidy. Consequently, as presented in Table 7, the overall compensation standards for paddy and dry land are 33,600 and 21,000 Yuan/mu for Daxian and Xuanhan. The corresponding figures are 31,500 and 18,900 Yuan/mu for Wanyuan. These compensations also include 1 time of AAOV for standing crops. As for orchards, standing trees will be counted and separately compensated using the standards given in Table 9; while land will be treated as dryland.

E. Compensation Standards

14. The compensation rates for and acquisition will be the same as adopted for the Project expressway (see Table 5).

Table 5: Compensation Rates for Permanent Land Acquisition Compensation standards (Yuan/mu) County Land type Land Resettlement Standing crops Overall compensation subsidy Paddy land 16,000 16,000 1,600 33,600 Tongchuan 10,000 10,000 1,000 21,000 and Dryland Xuanhan Woodland2 12,000 Paddy land 15,000 15,000 1,500 31,500 Wanyuan Dry land 9,000 9,000 900 18,900 Woodland 12,000 Source: Dazhou Municipal Government.

1 Which stated that land compensation and resettlement subsidy should not exceed 30 times of AAOV. 2 Existing trees included. 5

15. If any houses at to be demolished, the compensation for houses will be treated of the same as for the Project expressway (see Table 6), the APs will receive relocation allowances (see Table 7).

Table 6: Compensation Rates for Houses and Auxiliaries Compensation Item Category Class Unit standard Concrete Frame Yuan/m2 600 I Yuan/m2 450 Brick Concrete II Yuan/m2 400 III Yuan/m2 350 House I Yuan/m2 320 Brick-wood II Yuan/m2 300 III Yuan/m2 280 Earth wood I Yuan/m2 260 I Yuan/m2 150 Simple House II Yuan/m2 120 III Yuan/m2 100 Brick wall (solid) Yuan/m2 20 Auxiliaries Earth wall Yuan/m2 15 Biogas digester Yuan/set 2,000 Well Yuan/set 1,000 Tomb Yuan/set 300 Brick Toilet Yuan/set 100 Source: Dazhou Municipal Government.

Table 7: Relocation Allowances Transitional New house plot Miscellaneous Total Item Transport housing leveling Allowance 500 500 2,000 1,000 4,000 (Yuan/HH) Source: Dazhou Municipal Government. These are average figures; the amount will be based on actual need.

16. Compensation rates for scattered trees, if any, are given in Table 8. The rates are also identical to that for the expressway component.

Table 8: Compensation Rates for Scattered Trees Item Type Compensation rate (Yuan/tree) Note Mature 30 Timber trees Young 5 average

Mature 200 Fruit trees Young 50 Source: Dazhou Municipal Government.

17. The entitlements to be provided to affected persons are summarized in Table 9.

Table 9: Entitlement Matrix of Compensation and Resettlement Policy No. of Entitled Type of entitled Compensation Compensation Implementation Application person/ loss persons policy Entitlement issues group /groups Permanent Farmland HHs with use Village a) Land a) 20 times of AAOV a) Village loss of within ROW rights and groups and compensation to HHs if contract committee will farmland (in cases collective with affected and resettlement land, or to collective confirm losses where ownership households subsidies in cash; if common land and payments widening or b) Cash b) 1 time of AAOV to b) Township realignment is compensation for HHs for standing authorities required) standing crops crops approve and c) Farmland c) 10,000 Yuan/mu to monitor reclamation fund paid to provincial according land administrative provincial policy department by EA d) Farmland d) 3,335 Yuan/mu occupation tax farmland occupation according tax to taxation provincial policy departments by EA

Temporary Farmland HHs with use Village Cash compensation 2 times AAOV to HHs if Use is monitored by land used for rights and groups and paid to owner contract land, or to township officials; occupation construction collective with affected collective if common maximum period is activities ownership households land less than 1 year

Loss of Scattered Affected people All owners Cash compensation Full payment directly to Small trees will be scattered timber and who loss based on project tree owners replanted. trees fruit trees on standing standards acquisitioned trees farmland, if any

Loss of Residential Affected All owners Cash compensation Full payment directly to Notice 6 months in houses houses or households based on owners before advance. Township other replacement value demolition government will structures plus moving assist them to find a allowances. suitable new site.

IV. RESETTLEMENT AND REHABILITATION PROGRAMS

A. Resettlement Target

18. The overall objective of resettlement and rehabilitation is to ensure that the affected production base will be restored, the affected labor force will be re-employed, alternative locations for housing affected households will be identified, and income and livelihood of affected people will be improved or at least restored to their previous levels before resettlement.

B. Resettlement Guideline

19. The basic resettlement policy of the Project is to respect the wishes of affected people and maintain their current production and living traditions. Land-based resettlement should be in original township (town), village and village group with the consideration of local agriculture restructuring (mainly for planting production) and without change of APs’ non-agriculture resident status. The resettlement should be set firstly in the foundation of basic living materials and long- term potential of development, fully take the advantage of local resources, and adjust resettlement approaches to suit local conditions to explore the development method. The compensation given by the government should be fully used and more scientific and technical means should be adopted to keep the production and living level equal to or higher than before. Efforts should be 7 made to increase the income of APs simultaneously with other villagers in the vicinity in order to have a coordinative development of regional economy, maintain the community more stable and safe in long run.

C. Resettlement Planning Principles

20. A number of resettlement and rehabilitation principles have been developed for this Project.

(i) The resettlement plan will be based on detailed inventory for land acquisition and houses demolition, and adopted compensation standards and subsidies. (ii) The resettlement shall be combined with the local development, resource utilization and economic growth as well as environment protection. Considering the local conditions, a practical and feasible resettlement plan should be developed to restore or improve their economic production and create basic conditions for long- term development. (iii) The resettlement planning should be based on the principle “Beneficial to the production and convenient for living”. (iv) The re-construction standard and scale shall be based with the principle of recovery to the original standard and original scale. Combining the local development, the cost for enlarging the scale, raising standard and future plan shall be solved independently by local government and relevant department. (v) Making overall plans and taking all factors into consideration, correctly handling the relations between the state, collective and individual. (vi) Fully utilize local natural resource, build water conservancy facility, develop new farmland, improve land quality, and strengthen agricultural strength and make the resettlers' living standard reach or exceed the original level as soon as possible. (vii) The resettlement plans should include provisions to improve the living standards of poor people and other vulnerable people who are adversely affected by the project.

V. RESETTLEMENT BUDGET

21. Upgrading the 14 local roads needn’t land acquisition and temporary land occupation. The land acquisition cost mainly includes the compensation for the damage to the trees nearby the roads. The calculation is assumed based on 500 trees. And the total budget is 14500Yuan.

Table 10: Resettlement Budget Items Impacts Unit rate (yuan) Budget (Yuan) Permanent land acquisition 0 mu 27,000 0 Temporary land occupation 0 mu 2,700 0 Provision for scattered trees 500 trees 25 12500 Provision for houses 0 m2 250 0 Moving allowance 0 household 4000 40,000 Land taxes 0 mu 13,335 2,000 Total 1,4500 Source: Dazhou Municipal Government and Design Institute.

22. Compensation will be directly paid to the affected households by the contractors under the supervision of county communications bureau. Prior to construction, agreement must be concluded between contractors and affected households and verified by township officials.

VI. RESETTLEMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

A. Resettlement Organizations

23. The institutional framework for resettlement includes two kinds of organizations: the governmental organization and non-governmental organization (for example the private organizations or resettlement committee of affected people etc.). The resettlement organizations are important structure frames to insure that resettlement planning, managing and implement the compensation and resettlement, restoring income and rebuilding.

24. The county communications bureaus will take full charge of the general planning of the land acquisition and resettlement of this Project, and the resettlement management work.

25. The county land administration bureaus (prefecture, county and township) will be responsible for the land acquisition and resettlement procedures and payments.

26. The other key stakeholders include the village committees, villager groups and affected households.

B. Resettlement Implementation Procedures and Schedule

27. The local road sections will be constructed in a phased manner over 5 years (refer to Table 1); the first 3 sections were completed in the winter of 2006-07. The next 14 projects will be completed during 2007-2008. The county communication bureaus will contract institutes to prepare the detailed designs, which will determine the precise requirements for land acquisition or temporary land use. The county communication bureaus will consult with the local officials, village leaders and affected persons before finalizing the designs.

28. Although there isn’t land acquisition, the approval from the land administration department about land use has been issued to local officials, village leaders and the affected.

VII. CONSULTATION, PARTICIPATION AND REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES

A. Consultation and Participation

29. In the process of formulating resettlement policy, developing the RP and implementing the RP, the relevant authorities have paid and will pay special attention to the participation and consultation of the APs and solicit opinions widely from them. In each stage, the resettlement organizations at all levels will encourage public participation in all resettlement and rehabilitation matters.

B. Disclosure of Resettlement Policy and Resettlement Plan

30. In order to inform the affected people about the content of the RP, the resettlement organizations at all levels will disclose the resettlement policies and encourage the public participation. Resettlement information booklets were disseminated to people in the project area in May 2006. This SRP was available in township offices.

C. Grievance and Appeal

31. Public participation is always encouraged in the process of compiling and implementing the RP. There will always be some unforeseeable problems arising during the process. In order to solve these problems effectively and to ensure the project construction and land requisition is carried out successfully, a transparent and effective grievance and appeal channel will be set up.

32. In case affected persons are not dissatisfactory with compensation, with construction arrangement or other matters, they will make their complaints to relevant department. In order to protect the affected persons’ interests and properties from infringing, their comments and grievance shall be reported in the following procedure:

Step 1: Affected persons express oral or submit written petitions/complaints to villagers’ committee or township government. For oral complaints, villagers’ committee or township resettlement group must make written records properly and give a clear reply within 2 weeks. If the complaint involves significant problems, reply must be obtained from the county communications bureau within 2 weeks.

Step 2: If the complainant is not satisfied with the reply in Step 1, they have the right to appeal to the civil court within 15 days of reception of the reply in step 1.

33. The process and results of grievance redress will be recorded, monitored, and evaluated. If necessary, further follow-up measures will be taken to ensure that the problems will be resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner. The organizations will accept the grievance and appeals of the APs free of charge, and the reasonable expenses incurred from making grievances will be paid by the Project Resettlement Office within Dazhou City. Fortunately, most grievances involve small issues that are usually resolved within the villages.

VIII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

34. In order to guarantee that the RP can be smoothly implemented and the resettlement target suitably realized, the follow-on investigations and monitoring will be carried out throughout the whole process. Monitoring on the resettlement will be divided into two parts, i.e., internal monitoring (by the resettlement offices) and the external independent monitoring.

A. Internal Monitoring

35. The target of internal monitoring is to maintain supervision responsibility of the resettlement organizations during implementation, and ensure that the project can be constructed smoothly and the APs’ legal rights will not be impaired. The auditing department of the provincial government will independently exercise the auditing monitoring function over concerning units under its jurisdiction in accordance with the laws and regulations. The superior units assume the responsibilities for monitoring their subordinates so that the RP principle and schedule can be followed and implemented in accordance with local regulations.

36. The internal monitoring for land acquisition and resettlement will be conducted by the county communication bureaus. They will report to Dazhou City Project Management Office and SPCD quarterly.

B. External Resettlement Monitoring and Evaluation

37. The external monitoring and evaluation (M&E) will be combined with the monitoring on the Project expressway. The objective is to monitor and evaluate the resettlement impacts of the local roads upgrading, and where impacts exist to check whether the target of the land requisition, resettlement and relocation activities are realized. Through the M&E process, evaluation opinions and recommendations will be put forward on the resettlement, housing relocation and restoration of the APs’ living standards, and to provide warning systems as early as possible to the project management, and a feedback channel for the APs.

38. The external monitoring institution will report independently to the Project Leading Group for Resettlement, the Project Resettlement Office and ADB on both the expressway and the local roads components. It will conduct follow-up investigations, monitoring and evaluation of the resettlement activities according to the RP and provide advice for decision-making and mitigation measures. The institute will prepare annual monitoring reports for submission to PRO and ADB during resettlement implementation. The first M&E report will be due in December 2008.