2622-BAN: Natural Gas Access Improvement Project, Part B: Safety and Supply Efficiency Improvement in Titas Gas Field

Transcription

1 Draft Safeguards Monitoring Report Project No Draft Semi Annual Report December BAN: Natural Gas Access Improvement Project, Part B: Safety and Supply Efficiency Improvement in Titas Gas Field Prepared by Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited for People s Republic of Bangladesh

2 This social monitoring report 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.

3 BANGLADESH GAS FIELDS COMPANY LIMITED (A Company of Petrobangla ) Birashar, Brahmanbaria Draft Social Safeguard Monitoring Report Natural Gas Access Improvement Project, Part B: Safety and Supply Efficiency Improvement in Titas Gas Field PREPARED BY- Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited December 2015

4 Executive Summary BGFCL is the largest gas producer in the country; it has planned to carry out drilling of 4 new wells (well nos ) and installation of 2 nos. process plants with associated facilities in two different locations at Titas gas field with the financial assistance of ADB. Around 15 acres of land (mostly agricultural) has been acquired to implement the project. Accordingly RP has been developed and approved by ADB to compensate the APs. The project is located in two different locations at Titas gas field. One of them (Well # 25 & 26 and one process plant) located at mouza Chhatian, Jangilsar,Malihata & Suhilpur under Sadar upazila and the other (Well # 23 & 24 and one process plant) is located at Sarail mouza, upazila Sarail, both the areas are under Brahmanbaria district. DC, Brahmanbaria had determined the value of losses and as per the RP all valid claims were settled down. The DC office determined the compensation amount based on yearly average of recorded sale value plus 50% additional cash compensation. Resettlement Plan had been carried out as per ADB s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) and law/policy of Govt. of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh for implementation of the project. Under section 3, notice was served by the DC on cut-off date for non-title holders. An Entitlement Matrix had been prepared on the basis of census and socioeconomic survey conducted in July It identified the categories of impact based on the census and showed the entitlements for each type of loss. The matrix described the units of entitlements for compensating the lost assets and various resettlement benefits. Cash Compensation under Law (CCL) for lost assets (land) had recorded to the owners through the DC as per market value assessed through legal procedure. The resettlement benefit for indirect losses and difference between replacement value and the CCL will be paid by BGFCL directly to the APs. A total of acres land of 66 APs was acquired and as of date a total of BDT 191,078, taka has been disbursed to the APs. The project office endorsed that the CCL value of the acquired land paid to the land owners by the DC office is higher than the market price of land on that time. However this fact requires to be validated by a Property Valuation Advisory Team, which is under process An ADB safeguards mission comprising Mr. Shahidul Alam, Senior Safeguards Officer (Resettlement) and Mr. Ansar A. Siddiquee, staff Consultant visited the project locations in October 15 and organized two FGDs with the APs. The mission found that the Grievance Redress Committees (GRC) has yet not been formed. So, BGFCL agreed that they would establish GRC of the project with representation from the Executing Agency (EA), APs (including vulnerable groups), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and private consultant. The affected persons (AP s) of project area have demanded to arrange a permanent drain for irrigation in Sarail Mouza. Also, the APs demanded priority in getting jobs in the

5 project sites. However, the above two grievances had been redressed by the EA and the following resettlement activities are being considered: a. The EA has considered the grievance of affected persons of construction of an irrigation drain adjacent to the boundary wall of project area in Sarail Mouza. The EA has taken local competitive bidding (tender) to find the eligible Tenderer and after finishing the bidding process notification of award (NOA) has been issued to eligible contractor. After successful completion of the irrigation drain the affected and unaffected people nearby the project area will get benefit for cultivation of crops. b. The Affected People of the project area have applied for jobs. The EA have taken step to appoint them where appropriate. In this consideration, two affected persons have appointed as security guards on temporary basis. Also, the EA requested the drilling contractor to appoint the APs on priority basis. As a result, already 11 APs have been appointed in project activities in different categories. Although the project was categorized as A for Involuntary Resettlement (IR) Safeguards, the number of affected family is only 66. So, the project may be recategorized as B considering the level of impact. BGFCL has been carrying out the resettlement activities as per the approved RP. There are still some issues i.e. formation of GRC, PVAT etc. But, the EA is very keen to follow all the guideline and policies per the RP. Thus, they are working on to facilitate the formation of the GRC. Also, they keep close communication with the contractors so that the APs will get suitable job in the project sites. BGFCLE confirmed that regular semiannual monitoring Report will be submitted to ADB on January and July of each year until the resettlement activities are 100 % completed. As being category A for IR safeguards, an independent monitoring consultant will also be engaged by BGFCL, who will submit an independent monitoring report by June 2016.

6 Contents Abbreviation... v Definition of Terms... vi Executive Summary... ii Introduction... viii The Project... viii Monitoring and Evaluation... ix Monitoring Progress... xi Delivery of Entitlements... xi Consultation and Grievances... xxii Communications and Participation... xxiii Budget and Timeframe... xxiv Livelihood and Income Restoration... xxiv Benefit Monitoring... xxv Conclusion... xxv

7 Abbreviation ADB AH APs BGFCL CCL DC EA EPs FGD FHHs GRC GOB HHs IOL IR LA LAP LAO M&E MOL MOPEMR PCC PD PIC PIU PVAT RAC RAP RP R&R RV SES UP RU Asian Development Bank Affected Household Affected Persons Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd Cash Compensation under Law Deputy Commissioner Executing Agency Effected People Focused Group Discussion Female Headed Households Grievance Redress Committee Government of Bangladesh Affected households Inventory of Loss Involuntary resettlement Land Acquisition Land Acquisition Proposal Land Acquisition Officer Monitoring and Evaluation Ministry of lands Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Public Consultative Committee Project Director Project Implementation Committee Project Implementation Unit Property Valuation Advisory Team Resettlement Advisory Committee Resettlement Action Plan Resettlement Plan Resettlement & Rehabilitation Replacement Value Socio-economic Survey Union Parishad Resettlement Unit

8 Definition of Terms Affected persons (APs) mean all the people affected by the project through land acquisition, relocation, or loss of incomes and includes any person, household (sometimes referred to as project affected family), firms, or public or private institutions. APs therefore include; i) persons affected directly by the safety corridor, right-of-way, tower or pole foundations or construction work area; (ii) persons whose agricultural land or other productive assets such as trees or crops are affected; (iii) persons whose businesses are affected and who might experience loss of income due to the project impact; (iv) persons who lose work/employment as a result of project impact; and (v) people who lose access to community resources/property as a result of the project. Compensation means payment in cash or kind for an asset to be acquired or affected by a project at replacement cost at current market value. Cut-off-date means the date after which people will NOT be considered. eligible for compensation i.e. they are not included in the list of APs as defined by the census. Normally, the cut-off date is the date of the detailed measurement survey. Detailed measurement survey means the detailed inventory of losses that is completed after design and marking of project boundaries on the ground. Entitlement means the range of measures comprising cash or kind compensation, relocation cost, income rehabilitation assistance, transfer assistance, income substitution, and relocation which are due to /business restoration which are due to APs, depending on the type and degree nature of their losses, to restore their social and economic base. Land acquisition Non-titled means the process whereby a person is compelled by a public agency to alienate all or part of the land s/he owns or possesses, to the ownership and possession of that agency, for public purposes, in return for fair compensation. means those who have no recognizable rights or claims to the land that they are occupying and includes people using private or state land without permission, permit or grant i.e. those people without legal title to land and/or

9 structures occupied or used by them. ADB s policy explicitly states that such people cannot be denied compensation. Poor Replacement cost Sharecropper Vulnerable means those falling below the official national poverty line. means the method of valuing assets to replace the loss at current market value, or its nearest equivalent, and is the amount of cash or kind needed to replace an asset in its existing condition, without deduction of transaction costs or for any material salvaged. means the same as tenant cultivator or tenant farmer, and is a person who cultivates land they do not own for an agreed proportion of the crop or harvest. means any people who might suffer disproportionately or face the risk of being marginalized from the effects of resettlement and includes; (i) female-headed households with dependents; (ii) disabled household heads; (iii) poor households (within the meaning given previously); (iv) landless; (v) elderly households with no means of support; (vi) households without security of tenure; (vii) ethnic minorities; and (viii) marginal farmers (with landholdings of five acres or less)

10 Introduction 1. Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) is a company of Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla). The Company is the largest gas producer in the country. With a view to increase the production of gas, BGFCL has planned to carry out drilling of 4 new wells (well nos ) and installation of 2 nos. process plants with associated facilities in two different locations at Titas gas field with the financial assistance of ADB. A total of acres of land (mostly agricultural) has been acquired to implement the project. A resettlement plan (RP) had been prepared and submitted to ADB that has already been approved by ADB. 2. Major works planned under the scope of the project are (i) Drilling of 4(four) appraisal cum-development wells (Titas #23, 24, 25, & 26) and (ii) Installation of two nos. process plants at Titas Gas Field under Sadar Upazila & Sarail Upazila, Brahmanbaria. The Project 3. Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) has planned to carry out drilling of 4 new wells (well nos ) and installation of 2 nos. process plants with associated facilities in two different locations at Titas gas field under financial assistance of ADB. One of them (well # 25 & 26 and one process plant) located at mouzachhatian, Jangilsar,Malihata&Suhilpur under Sadarupazila and other (well # 23 & 24 and one process plant) is located at mouzasarailupazilasarail both are under district Brahmanbaria. 4. Project Areas Map 1: Brahmanbaria District Map Showing Project Location

11 Benefits and Impacts 5. All the four wells will produce total 120 MMSCFD natural gas and each well of the 4 wells (Well no 23-26) will produce 30 MMSCFDwhich will facilitate a total flow of additional natural gas supply to the national grid. Gas from the wells will be used for producing mainly electricity which in turn will drive industries contributing to national GDP. Implementation of the project will develop socio-economic environment of the area including poverty alleviation by creation opportunities through industrial development. Besides, many unskilled local people can be employed temporarily during project implementation period. This will lead to the enhancement of skill of the personnel engaged in physical execution of the project which in turn would help execution of similar projects in future. 6. Since there are no structure in the propose location of the project hence, implementation of project physical works will not cause adverse involuntary resettlement impacts entailing acquisition of land, other assets and displacement. The census survey undertaken brought forth that the proposed project requires acquisition of about 15 acres of land the all of which comprises of agricultural land and no homestead and commercial assets. A total of 66 households constituting of 322 persons would be affected as a result of the project. Monitoring and Evaluation 7. The internal monitoring is being carried out by the project office in order to oversee the performance of the resettlement plan implementation. Following are the indicators based on which the overall monitoring is being carried out: Table 1: Monitoring Indicators Monitoring Aspects Delivery of Entitlements Potential/Relevant Indicators Entitlements disbursed as per the entitlement matrix. Disbursements against timelines. Identification of the displaced persons. Timely disbursements of the agreed transport costs, relocation costs, income substitution support, and any resettlement allowances, according to schedule. Provision of replacement land plots. Quality of new plots and issue of land titles. Restoration of social infrastructure and services. Progress on income and livelihood restoration activities being implemented as set out in the income restoration plan, for example, utilizing replacement land, commencement of production, the number of the displaced persons trained in employment with jobs, microcredit disbursed, number of income-generating activities assisted. Affected businesses receiving entitlements, including transfer and payments for net losses resulting from lost business. Consultation & Grievances Consultations organized as scheduled including meetings, groups, and community activities. Knowledge of entitlements by the displaced

12 Monitoring Aspects Potential/Relevant Indicators persons. Use of the grievance redress mechanism by the displaced persons. Information on the resolution of the grievances. Information on the implementation of the social preparation phase. Implementation of special measures for Indigenous Peoples. Communications & Participation Number of general meetings (for both men and women). Percentage of women out of total participants. Number of meetings exclusively with women. Number of meetings exclusively with vulnerable groups. Number of meetings at new sites. Number of meetings between hosts and the displaced persons. Level of participation in meetings (of women, men, and vulnerable groups). Level of information communicated adequate or inadequate. Information disclosure. Translation of information disclosure in the local languages. Budget & Timeframe Land acquisition and resettlement staff appointed and mobilized on schedule for the field and office work. Capacity building and training activities completed on schedule. Achieving resettlement implementation activities against the agreed implementation plan. Funds allocation for resettlement to resettlement agencies on time. Receipt of scheduled funds by resettlement offices. Funds disbursement according to the resettlement plan. Social preparation phase as per schedule. Land acquisition and occupation in time for implementation. Livelihood & Income Restoration Number of displaced persons under the rehabilitation programs (women, men, and vulnerable groups). Number of displaced persons who received vocational training (women, men, and vulnerable groups). Types of training and number of participants in each. Number and percentage of displaced persons covered under livelihood programs (women, men, and vulnerable groups). Number of displaced persons who have restored their income and livelihood patterns (women, men, and vulnerable groups). Number of new employment activities. Extent of participation in rehabilitation programs. Extent of participation in vocational training programs. Degree of satisfaction with support received for livelihood programs. Percentage of successful enterprises breaking even (women, men, and vulnerable groups). Percentage of displaced persons who improved their income (women, men, and vulnerable groups) Percentage of displaced persons who improved their standard of living (women, men, and vulnerable groups) Number of displaced persons with replacement agriculture land (women, men, and vulnerable groups) Quantity of land owned/contracted by displaced persons (women, men and vulnerable groups) Number of households with agricultural equipment. Number of households with livestock Benefit Monitoring Noticeable changes in patterns of occupation, production, and resource use compared to the pre-project situation. Noticeable changes in income and expenditure patterns compared to the pre-

13 Monitoring Aspects Potential/Relevant Indicators project situation. Changes in cost of living compared to the preproject situation. Changes in key social and cultural parameters relating to living standards. Changes occurred for vulnerable groups. Benefiting from the project by the displaced persons. Ref. ADB Involuntary Resettlement Safeguards: A Planning and Implementation Good Practice Sourcebook Monitoring Progress Delivery of Entitlements 8. An Entitlement Matrix has been prepared on the basis of census and socioeconomic survey conducted in July It identified the categories of impact based on the census and portrayed the entitlements for each type of loss. The matrix below describes the units of entitlements for compensating the lost assets and various resettlement benefits based on which the basic of social safeguard monitoring stands. Cash Compensation under Law (CCL) for lost assets (land) accorded to the owners through the DC as per market value assessed through legal procedure. The resettlement benefit for indirect losses and difference between replacement value and the CCL was paid by BGFCL directly to the APs. Table 2: Compensation and Entitlements Type of loss Entitled Persons(s) Entitlements 1. Loss of agricultural land Legal owner(s) of land as determined by the DC, and or determined by the court Value of land at current market price of the equivalent replacement land. The DC office determines the compensation amount based on yearly average of recorded sale value plus 50% additional cash compensation. Refund of registration cost incurred for replacement land purchase at the replacement value. Any difference between the awarded value and the replacement value at the cut-offdate (on the date of issuance of notice under section 3 of Acquisition Act, 1982) will be paid to APs as a cash grant. APs will be provided with all possible assistance to identify and purchase replacement land. APs severely affected by loss of agricultural land (i.e., losing more than 20% of total land holding) will receive a cash grant of Tk.5000/- per family or Tk per decimal of concerned land,

14 2. Lose of access by tenants/sharecroppers to agricultural land for crops production. 3. Loss of wages income. 4. Loss of standing crops Farmers leasing in or share cropping the land that is defined to be acquired for the project at the time of the socio-economic survey. Persons engaged in wage labor in agriculture or nonagriculture sectors in the affected areas whose means of livelihood have been affected. Compensation for one year s crop value to crop owner whichever is lower. Suitable candidates will also be provided with free training on income employment. No compensation for land. One time cash grant of Tk.5000/- per family or Tk. 2000/-per decimal of concerned land, whichever is lower. Suitable candidates will also be provided free training on income generating activities and a subsistence allowance during the training period. If necessary, access to credit facilities to start selfemployment will be provided. One-time cash grant of Tk. 5000/-and Wage employment with contractors and / or training in income generating activities. If necessary, access to credit facilities will be provided to start self-employment activities. A subsistence allowance will be provided during the training period. Advance notice to harvest crops. Cash compensation equivalent to the market value of one year s income from the crops. One-time cash grant of Tk.10000/- per family 5. Vulnerable groups Members of vulnerable groups such as the landless, very poor, femaleheaded Provision of a land purchase grant for households landless households. or households of the elderly, physically impaired or disabled 6. Unforeseen impact Concerned impacts Determined as per policy on unique Findings at detailed design stage 9. A total of 15 acres of land worth around Tk million of 66 household were affected through land loss and income from sharecrops loss throughout the implementation process. Adequate efforts have been made by BGFCL in order to minimize the impacts and disruption of livelihood. BGFCL initiated maximum possible extent and adequate measure to reduce the adverse impact and which has been incorporated in the planning design of the project to mitigate the unavoidable adverse impacts. An entitlement matrix for different categories of people affected by the project has been prepared. People moving in the project area after the cut-off date were not entitled to any assistance. After issuance of notice under section 3 by the DC and census cut-off date for non-titleholders or a similar designated date declared by BGFCL, joint verification of the acquired properties were carried-out by the requiring and acquiring bodied. All APs had been brought under entitlements to compensation and resettlement assistance based on severity (significance) of impacts. All the APs were paid by the DC Office which can be found through proper paper work as shown below sequentially:

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 10. An ADB Mission comprising Mr. Shahidul Alam, Sr. Safeguards Officer, ADB- BRM, and Mr. Ansar Ahammed Siddiquee, Social Safeguard Monitoring Specialist, visited the project areas on 12 October There the team met with the APs through conducting FGD session. They didn t find any objection on the entitlement other than the price of the land which were set by the PVAT. But, finally the APs also agreed with the team that they were considering the current value of land during the discussion period. The team was satisfied with the overall delivery process of entitlements to the APs. As of reporting date a total of BDT 191,078, had been disbursed among the APs (66 persons of acres of land) in the project areas. Most of the lands acquired by the project are agricultural land and thus doesn t involve any relocation cost for anyone of the APs. Consultation and Grievances 11. ADB team didn t find the Grievance Redress Committees (GRC) during their visit on 12 October BGFCL was well informed about the importance and need of forming the committee urgently. Also, based on the discussion and being suggested by the team of ADB, BGFCL already placed complain boxes on grievances as shown in the picture below: Figure 1: Notice box placed in the door-step of the project area to receive grievance notice by APs 12. BGFCL is working now on to forming the GRC so that it can handle disputes relating to ownership rights under the court of law, to review grievances involving all resettlement benefits, relocation, and other assistance forwarded by the Resettlement Unit (RU) or APs. BGFCL is committed to redress within 2-4 weeks

25 from the date of lodging the complaints when it will be able to form the committee. The local Union Parishad Chairman is also working very closely with them to assist in forming the committee. However, this will be worthwhile to mention here that there were no major grievances brought forward by the APs during the discussion with the team from ADB in October 15 visit. 13. It was well noticed by the APs that they are in need of a permanent irrigation drainage for them and BGFCL already agreed to build a 1400 feet long irrigation drain for them. The construction work for the drainage for irrigation is underway. Communications and Participation 14. Based on the RP and Socio-economic survey, it was revealed that the landholdings and ownership pattern of the APs are as follows: Table: Distribution of land ownership of the Affected Persons Mouza Agricultural land Holding in percentage Virtually landless (%) Merginal ( Small ( ( Acre) Acre) Acre) Medium( Acre) Chhatian Malihata Jangilsar Suhilpur Sarail Table: Owner, Tenant, Labor Holdings and others Household Mouza Owner Holdings Others No. % No. % Chhatian Malihata Jangilsar Suhilpur Sarail Table: Occupation of head of households Occupation Head of Households No of persons Percent Business Construction Worker 1 2 Farmer Foreign Labor 1 2 House wife 3 6 Labor 1 2 Service 7 14 Student 3 6 Unemployment 4 8 Thikader 1 2 Large (5.5+ Acre

26 Total Table3 : Land ownership characteristics of Female headed households Number of households Total land ownership (dec) Land lost (dec) Percentage It is found that only a minor percentage of the APs are female. But still the participation of females in all the meetings were ensured by the implementers. Due to a very poor number of female APs no exclusive meetings were conducted with them rather they were consulted individually on different occasions throughout the implementation process. Also, during the visit of the ADB team in October 15, the participation of the female APs were ensured and the team was informed by the female AP that they were being informed on various occasions of the implementation process. In case of the issue of vulnerable group, it was pretty common in the area that there were no such communities among the APs who may fall into the group of vulnerable; still the implementing agency is working with the weak APs on the issue of let them get priority in case of taking workers in the project areas. Budget and Timeframe 16. Based on the approved RP, a budget provision was made to cover all land acquisition, compensation, and rehabilitation costs for the project. The budget provision was made in the project Proforma in the amount of Tk million. In estimating land acquisition cost, last one year s average sale rates of different types of land in the project jurisdiction were collected from the concerned sub-registry offices. These rates were sale value plus 50% as per GoB policy of involuntary resettlement (compulsory nature of acquisition). However, based on the budgetary provision BGFCL completed the resettlement of land acquisition on time. However, it is obvious that there were some late in disbursing the money to the APs from the DC Office due to some administrative issues. Also, the team of ADB found out the same issue from the APs during conducting the FGD in October 15. Livelihood and Income Restoration 17. Resettlement census survey covered all the households of the project areas and found out that a total of 66 households will lost lands of which almost all are agricultural lands. Loss of income from crops lost by farmers leasing in or share cropping lands was thus compensated with one-time cash grants of Tk per family or Tk per decimal of affected land, whichever is lower. Suitable candidates were supposed to be provided with free training on income generating activities and a subsistence allowance during the training period. But, less or no efforts were made on this as among the APs almost no one showed any interest on such initiative. It was also suggested in the RP that if necessary, access to credit

27 facilities to start self-employment would have been provided; but still no such progress was made for the APs. 18. Person engaged in wage labor in agriculture or non-agricultural sectors whose means of livelihood were affected by acquisition of the land or property are dependent on were supposed to be entitled to a onetime cash grant of Tk and priority for wage employment with contractors and/ or training in income generating activities. However, it is evident that BGFCL is putting utmost effort to arrange onsite job for the APs or members of APs families in the project areas. BGFCL is committed to give priority to the APs in getting job in the project sites. Benefit Monitoring 19. BGFCL is not in a situation to monitor noticeable changes in pattern of occupations, income or expenditures of the APs. It is always good to engage partner NGOs which are capable in such activities. However, this should be noted here that during the visit of ADB team in October 15, it was remarkably noticed in the FGD session that none of the APs bought land in somewhere else with the money they got as compensation for land acquisition. The money rather they spent out for any other purposes. However, the APs still expect that BGFCL will play a vital role to ensure job for them in the project areas. Conclusion 20. This is to emphasize that resettlement Plan should be implemented as per resettlement frame work and compensation policy so that the project affected persons must not be worse off than their pre-project living standard and socioeconomic status due to the project because of shifting to other places or loosing land or being relocated. It has been observed that an internal resettlement monitoring specialist would have been worthy to capture all the glitches during the RP implementation. Also, involving an NGO to ensure livelihood restoration would have been beneficial for the APs. The experience in getting late in disbursing money to the APs from the DC Office was crucial and this dependency was contributing in timely implementation of the RP.