VcA)2 THE GOVERNMENTOF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA MINISTRYOF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTORATEGENERAL OF HIGHWAYS Public Disclosure Authorized Ii I. NORTHERN SUMATRA REGION J X ROAD PROJECT Public Disclosure Authorized * ENVIRONMENTALAND Public Disclosure Authorized * SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 1 December 1996 A.. I Carl Bro International a/s in associationwith Public Disclosure Authorized 3 PT. Multi Phi Beta PT. Amythas Experts PT. Delta Marga Kreasi l l t:; THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA l 0 MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF HIGHWAYS I . REGIONAL-fiADS TRANSPORTPRIORITIES 'ANALYSISStUDY (RRTPA) VOLUME 3 ENVIRONMENTALAND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT l December 1996 3 Carl Bro International a/s in associationwith PT. Multi Phi Beta I PT. Amythas Experts PT. Delta Marga Kreasi l SUMMARY A draft Preliminary Environmental and Social Impact Assessment' was submitted as Annex E of the Phase I report in September 1996. For completeness, much of the material submitted in the draft is repeated here, but at the same time there are substantial changes in this final version, especially in the treatment of sociological issues and legislation, in the proposals for an environmental screening methodology, and in the detailed preliminary screening of potential sub-projects that has been carried out, as well as in formulating proposals for the handling of environmental issues during the proposed Northem Sumatra Regional Road Project (NSRRP). Chapter 1 gives an outline account of the existing physical and social environment, while Chapter 2 summarizes the environmental implications of road development. The current legislation in Indonesia is summarized in Chapter 3, and the implications for environmental management are discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 proposes a methodology for the preliminary screening of road projects, and provides guidelines on the costs of the ANDAL studies that may be required; it also proposes a strategy to strengthen the management of the environmental and social measures that are required. Finally the preliminary screening results of identified sub- projects are presented in Chapter 6. The Regional Roads Transport Priorities Analysis Study (RRPTA) is classified as a category A project under the World Bank's Operational Directive 4.01, requiring full environmental and social impact assessment. Not all proposed sub-projects, however, will require such full evaluation (categories B and C). The Indonesian Government's environmental legislation for analysing and managing the negative environmental and social impacts of development (AMDAL) is actually more comprehensive than the Bank's, and compliance is mandatory. However, the institutional capacity to implement the legislation is still undergoing development and there remains much room for improvement. There are weaknesses in consultant capacity to undertake the AMDAL studies, and in budgetary and institutional capacity to implement the environmental and social mitigation measures recommended from the studies. Within Bina Marga, it is envisaged that the on-gtoing ISEM project fiunded by the World Bank will strengthen the capacity of the AMII)AL. sections to supervise environmental management in the roads sector. Preliminary screening of proposed projects has been carried out (see Chapter 6). This estimates the size and scale of the ANDAL that may be required, but this will be confirrned only after the Initial Environmental Evaluation (Kajian Lingkungan) has been carried out. Systems of sectoral evaluation are applicable in other cases, with mitigation measures incorporated in the existing technical guidelines and standard operating procedures. The Indonesian environmentallegislation encompassessocial issues as a component of the environment,whereas the World Bank tends to treat them as separate issues. Both 'environmental' and 'social' componentsform the subject of this report. From the viewpoint of environmental management, proposed sub-projects can be divided into three categories: a) Capacity Expansion. This mostly concems the widening or in some cases realignment of existing routes that carry heavy traffic, often in or close to urban centres. Such projects may have major social issues especially concerning k nd acquisition, but the physical and biological impacts can generally be handled by routine procedures. A proforma for screening such projects based on analysis of 1:50,000 topographic maps is presented in Table 5.2. Preliminary screening along the main national and provincial corridors is presented in Table 6.2; an indicative classification has been applied of the size of the ANDAL study that may be required, but this will depend on the degree of widening proposed. ,1 b) New construction, mainly of inter-kabupaten links (new construction of the requisite provincial road network, mainly in Aceh and North Sumatra, is already on-going). Considered to be very important for the agricultural development of the more remote areas, I most of these projects require the upgrading of existing poor quality kabupaten roads, but with some new construction. There may be a variety of environmental impacts (physical, biological and social), but the impacts are generally not severe. The screening proforma for I new roads is presented in Table 5.1. Table 6.1 likewise gives an indicative category of the size of the ANDAL study that may be required. Some of the identified routes carry major impacts and are included with the next category. I c) Major new corridors. These provide entirely new routes, generally inter-kabupaten, which in most cases cross steep forested mountainous terrain. Roads which are planned to cross the NW-SE 'strike' of the land are particularly steep. Most would have severe impacts and clearly require full ANDAL studies, but it is uncertain whether the institutional capacity is in place, in both the short-term and in perpetuity, to handle the impacts on the physical and biological environment (such as damage to watersheds, forest clearance, illegal logging, I hunting or trade in wildlife etc.). In a few cases there may also be significant impacts on vulnerableisolated communities. In general, the watersheds over most of the Project Area are still in good condition. However, in order to protect these watersheds, upon which the welfare of the densely populated lowlands I partially depend, it is recommended that roads are not constructed in montane forests unless exceptional social or economic justification can be established. Where constructed, high priority must be given to the management, in perpetuity, of the land, forest and biological 3 resources along the route. In view of the fact that new provincial roads are being constructed in such terrain (in Aceh and West Sumatra), either apparently without any enviromnental evaluation or with ANDAL studies that sometimes fail to address adequately the main issues (see Section 4.5), and in view of the concerns about the lack of sufficient local govemrnment capacity to control negative impacts consequent upon the new access provided by such roads, great concern is expressed here about this issue. Recommendations are made in Section 5.10 to strengthen the institutional aspects of environmental management, with the establishment of an Environmental Oversight Committee in each province (whose mandate would extend later outside the transport sector), and with annual environmental workshops to address such issues. Priority should be given to the need to mnanage the watershed forests along the provincial roads already constructed, especially in Aceh Province. l ii ~~~~~~I There are varied interpretations, between regions and projects, of Keppres 55/1993 conceming land acquisition and resettlement, although this regulation provides a framework for land I acquisition that is compatible with the Bank's resettlement policies and Operational Directive 4.30. However, it is considered that standard operational guidelines are required specifically for the use of Bina Marga in road construction and widening projects, in order to ensure that * methods of compensation are fair and transparent. It is recommended that consultation and community participation are made an integral part of land acquisition procedures. The GOI must accord priority to the allocation of sufficient funds for the purpose of acquiring land where necessary on capacity expansionlrealignment projects, and indeed Bank approval to proceed will be conditional upon satisfactory resolution of such problems. 3 ' Likewise there are doubts concerning the institutional capacity for the handling of social impacts in remote areas. Act No. 10 of 1992 on population policy has potential to assist vulnerable isolated communities to develop at a pace in accordance with their socio-cultural I abilities, protected from the negative impacts of rapid development and outside pressures. However, to date, no guidelines have been issued to facilitate the implementation of this law, and such guidelines are considered urgent. Unfortunately this Act does not have provision for guaranteeing inherited land rights, and so the legal anomalies of adat rights remain. It is assumed that sub-projects proposed for implementation during the first year of NSRRP will either not require AAIDAL studies or such studies will have already been completed and accepted; it is further assumed that issues relating to land acquisition will have been resolved satisfactorily. Other sub-projects will be postponed to the second or later years in order to U permit environmental and social evaluation to