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CHAPTER III. Analysis
of the Application of JICA’s New Guidelines
3.1
JICA’s new Guidelines and this project JICA’s
Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations
were put into effect in April 2004. JICA’s
studies for rehabilitation of National Route One began prior to the
enactment of the new Guidelines, but JICA itself announced that it would
apply the “spirit” and the principles of the new Guidelines to the
studies and implementation of this road rehabilitation project.
JICA has not, however, been able to accomplish this in full.
This chapter will review the findings described in the previous
chapter in accordance with key clauses of JICA’s new Guidelines and
analyze their application to the project.
Because
JICA’s official involvement in the project to rehabilitate National
Route One began before the enactment of the new Guidelines, it is not
realistic to force JICA to strictly follow the entire set of procedures
for environmental and social considerations stipulated in Chapter III of
its new Guidelines. On the other hand, since JICA itself decided to apply the
principles of the new Guidelines to this project, JICA should pay
particular respect to clauses under “Basic Matters” (Chapter I of
JICA’s new Guidelines), which outline the “Policy,”
“Principles,” “Responsibilities,” and “Requirements” for
recipient governments. It
should also closely follow clauses in the section, “Process” (Chapter
II), which sets out requirements for information disclosure, public
consultations, the scope of impacts to be assessed, and treatment of
social/environmental issues and human rights. In
this chapter, we refer to the relevant clauses under “Basic Matters”
and “Process” of the new Guidelines in order to examine the extent to
which JICA has been able to apply the spirit of the Guidelines to the
rehabilitation of National Route One. 3.2
Violation of Involuntary Resettlement Clause—People will be
impoverished Section
1.6 of JICA’s new Guidelines outlines the requirements for recipient
governments. It stipulates,
“when JICA considers either the selection of proposed projects or the
support for and examination of environmental and social considerations,
JICA examines how the recipient governments meet the requirements that
JICA requires as mentioned in Appendix 1.” According to Appendix 1,
“People to be resettled involuntarily and people whose means of
livelihood will be hindered or lost must be sufficiently compensated and
supported by project proponents, etc., in a timely manner.” As
indicated by RAN’s counter survey, however, it is clear that most
respondents felt that compensation offered by the PAP’s survey team
would not be sufficient to compensate all their lost assets
(page 10 Finding #3). The
same clause of Appendix 1 of the new Guidelines states, “[p]roject
proponents must make efforts to enable people affected by projects to
improve their standard of living, income opportunities and production
levels, or at least to restore them to pre-project levels.”
The RAN survey indicated, however, that the vast majority of people
to be resettled by this road project will not receive any compensation for
the land where they have lived or that they have used to make their living
(see page 8 Finding #1). The
findings of RAN’s counter surveys show cause for strong doubt that this
project will provide “land and monetary compensation for losses (to
cover land and property losses),” or that it will support “means for
an alternative sustainable livelihood, and [provide] expenses necessary
for relocation and the re-establishment of communities at resettlement
sites” as stipulated in Appendix 1 of JICA’s new Guidelines. The
NGO survey team found that the fear of impoverishment is largely due to
lack of land compensation. As
explained in BOX 1 on page 9, both the Government of Cambodia and JICA do
not recognize private land ownership within the ROW, due to an Edict
issued in 1999 that declared all land within 30 meters of the centerline
of the road to be public land. The
Cambodian Government is using this as a reason not to provide land
compensation. Many people
currently living within the ROW, however, have been there for many years
and should be treated as local stakeholders, as is required by JICA’s
new Guidelines (Section 1.3 Definition). It is, therefore, JICA’s duty to ensure that people who are
to be relocated will receive enough land compensation to improve, or at
least restore their livelihoods, regardless of their legal ownership of
land within the ROW. Our
survey findings show, however, that JICA has thus far failed to do so. Furthermore,
our findings indicate that the process of negotiations between authorities
and affected people were done in an intimidating manner (see Findings #5,
#6, #8). According to
Appendix 1 of the new Guidelines, “effective measures to minimize impact
and to compensate for losses must be agreed upon with the people who will
be affected.” Coerced agreement cannot be considered to fulfill this
requirement. 3.3
Violation of Social Acceptability Clause-People were forced to agree JICA’s
new Guidelines emphasize the importance of public participation and
informed consent among stakeholders.
Appendix 1 of the new Guidelines, for example, clearly requires
that “projects must be adequately coordinated so that they are accepted
in a manner that is socially appropriate to the country and locality in
which they are planned.” The findings of RAN’s counter survey, however, defy this
requirement. As explained in
Finding #5 and #6, clear intimidation and threats were used by members of
the PAP’s Survey team to coerce agreement for compensation packages. Respondents to our survey also said that they did not want to
raise grievances to authorities, due to fear of repercussions from
military police or officials, even if they have complaints or anxieties
regarding compensation (see page 10 Finding #4).
In spite of this situation, JICA approved the results of the Simple
Survey and the completed portions of the PAP’s Survey—surveys that
were to determine whether stakeholders agreed to the project and proposed
compensation packages. Problems
resulting from the presence of military police and government officials in
the PAP’s Survey team have not been sufficiently addressed by JICA. RAN’s
counter survey also indicates that the majority of respondents do not
understand the content of documents they agreed to (see Finding #9).
This means that JICA has not seriously considered the appropriate
manner in which affected people can voice free and informed opinions about
whether they accept the project and proposed compensation packages, as
required in the new Guidelines. 3.4
Violation of Human Rights Clause-People cannot secure their rights Also
relevant to the issue explained above, section 2.7 of JICA’s new
Guidelines addresses the issue of human rights.
It says, “special measures must be taken for cooperation projects
when disclosing information and holding consultation with local
stakeholders after obtaining understanding from the recipient governments,
in countries and areas affected by conflict or where basic freedoms –
including freedom of expression and the right to receive legal relief –
are restricted.” This
clause requires JICA to prepare special measures for local consultations
in countries where basic freedoms are restricted.
As indicated by the findings of this report, JICA sent staff for
the PAP’s Survey in some cases, but responses to RAN’s counter survey
indicate that their presence did not alleviate fears of interviewees nor
stop authorities from making threatening statements (see page 11Finding
#6). These results show that
JICA has failed to incorporate measures to ensure free and informed
consent in this situation where people were in fear of intimidation by
authorities. In
addition, the human rights clause in JICA’s new guidelines requires
special measures to complement the lack of legal relief in countries like
Cambodia. JICA’s Preparatory Study report indicates the need for such
mechanism in general, but no independent mechanisms to address grievances
from affected people have been established for this project.
This is another failure of JICA to comply with its new Guidelines. 3.5
Violation of Meaningful Participation Clause-People’s voices are ignored Among
seven basic principles set forth at the beginning of JICA’s new
Guidelines is one regarding participation of stakeholders.
This principle states, “JICA incorporates stakeholder opinions
into decision-making processes regarding environmental and social
considerations, and JICA ensures the meaningful participation of
stakeholders in order to take consideration of environmental and social
factors and to reach a consensus accordingly.” Findings
of RAN’s counter survey, however, paint a very different picture. The fact that most respondents expressed discontent with the
compensation (See page 10 Finding #3) and that such opinions have not been
incorporated into determining the content of resettlement packages (see
page 12 Finding #7), indicate that JICA has failed to promote meaningful
stakeholder participation. Appendix
1 of JICA’s new Guidelines says, “appropriate participation by
affected people and their communities must be promoted in the planning,
implementation, and monitoring of involuntary resettlement plans and
measures against the loss of their means of livelihood.”
Many findings elaborate the difficulties currently being faced by
affected people in negotiating with authorities resettlement plans,
including compensation for land and assets.
3.6
Violation of Standards—People need Legal Standards JICA’s
new Guidelines strive to ensure that livelihoods can be rebuilt so that
standards of living are improved, if not restored.
In spite of this, JICA is failing to take appropriate steps to
ensure that this happens in this road rehabilitation project.
One of the reasons for this failure could be JICA’s fear that
proposing effective resolutions to problems which have arisen could be
seen as interfering with matters of the Cambodian Government. However, Section 2.6 Laws and Standards of Reference of
JICA’s new Guidelines require the following: JICA
refers to international standards, treaties and declarations and good
practices which Japan, international and regional organizations and
developed countries have. When
JICA recognizes that laws and regulations regarding environmental and
social considerations of host countries are substantially inferior to
these standards and good practices, JICA encourages the recipient
governments—including local governments—to take more appropriate
considerations through a series of dialogues, and confirms background and
justification for that. This
means that if the current compensation for land and assets being offered
to affected people by the PAP’s Survey team deviates largely from the
international standard, JICA must “take more appropriate considerations
through a series of dialogues, and confirms background and justification
for that.” Therefore, JICA
must confirm whether or not the process for and content of current
compensation meets international standards.
Based on this finding, JICA has the responsibility to work with the
Cambodian government to implement appropriate measures to remedy any
necessary problems. The
decision-making process to determine the content of compensation is one of
the most important social considerations in projects requiring
resettlement of affected people. Therefore,
this process should follow the procedures in the new Guidelines and ensure
that meaningful consultations are held with affected people and that they
are able to freely express their opinions and give their consent (or
dissent). Based
on analysis of the findings of our counter surveys to the Simple Survey
and PAP’s Survey conducted jointly by the Cambodian government and JICA,
JICA is violating at least four clauses of its new Guidelines:
Although
this project was begun prior to enactment of JICA’s new Guidelines,
JICA’s Preparatory Study report explicitly affirms JICA’s intention to
apply the spirit of the new Guidelines to this project and follow the
Guidelines’ principles in the project’s implementation.
It is, therefore, reasonable to expect JICA to comply with these
four basic clauses regarding which this chapter raises concerns. We understand that it is part of JICA’s mission to build a more peaceful and prosperous world. While this mission is indeed commendable, if local people continue to be sacrificed in the name of development, this mission will never be fulfilled. We believe that JICA understands this, and this is one reason for the establishment of the Guidelines on Social and Environmental Considerations. The Resettlement Action Network, therefore, urges JICA to take concrete measures to ensure that these Guidelines are respected in the planning and implementation of improving National Route One. |
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