Safeguards Due Diligence Report

April 2021

Lao PDR: Second Greater Mekong Sub-Region Corridor Towns Development Project

HXYA2: Houayxay Ecological Park and Recreation Area, Riverside Road and Walkway

Prepared by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport for the Asian Development Bank.

This safeguards due diligence 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. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section on ADB’s website. 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.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic Peace Independence Democracy Unity Prosperity

Ministry of Public Works and Transport Department of Housing and Urban

Department of Public Works and Transport, Bokeo Province

Social Safeguards Due Diligence Report:

Contract Variation No.1 for Houayxay Ecological Park

and Recreation Area Subproject (HXYA2)

Prepared by

Project Coordination Unit

April 2021

Second Greater Mekong Sub-Region Corridor Towns Development Project

ADB Loan Nos. 3315/8296-LAO

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 31 March 2021; https://www.bol.gov.la/referencerate)

Currency unit – kip (LAK) $1.00 = LAK 9.388

ABBREVIATIONS

ADB - Asian Development Bank AP/AH - Affected person/affected household DMS - Detailed measurement survey DED - Detailed engineering design DHUP - Department of Housing and Urban Planning (MPWT) DPWT - Department of Public Works and Transport DRC - District Resettlement Committee EA - Executing agency GMS - Greater Mekong Sub-region GRC - Grievance Redress Committee GRM - Grievance redress mechanism IA - Implementing agency Lao PDR - Lao People’s Democratic Republic MPWT - Ministry of Public Works and Transport PCU - Project Coordination Unit PIB - Project information booklet PIC - Project Implementation Consultants PPSC - Provincial Project Steering Committee PRC - Provincial Resettlement Committee RCS - Replacement cost study ROW - Right-of-way SES - Socioeconomic survey SPS - Safeguard Policy Statement

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

km – kilometer kg – kilogram ha – Hectare $ - US Dollar

GLOSSARY

Affected person (AP) /

Affected Household

(AH)

– Refers to any person or persons, household, firm, private or public institution that, on account of changes resulting from the project, will have its (i) standard of living adversely affected; (ii) right, title or interest in any house, land (including residential, commercial, agricultural, forest and/or grazing land), water resources or any other moveable or fixed assets acquired, possessed, restricted or otherwise adversely affected, in full or in part, permanently or temporarily; and/or (iii) business, occupation, place of work or residence or habitat adversely affected, with or without displacement. In the case of affected household (AH), it includes all members residing under one roof and operating as a single economic unit, who are adversely affected by the project or any of its components.

Compensation – Means payment in cash or in-kind at replacement cost for an asset to be acquired by the Project.

Cut-off date – Means the date that a population record or census, preferably at the project identification stage, serves as an eligibility cut-off date in order to prevent a subsequent influx of encroachers or others who wish to take advantage of such benefits. The cut-off date will be the date when the detailed measurement survey and census is completed.

Land acquisition – Means the process whereby a person is compelled by the Government through the Executing Agency of the Project to alienate all or part of the land s/he owns or possesses in favor of the State in the implementation of the Project or any of its components in return for consideration.

Livelihood impacts or economic displacement

– Means loss of income generating assets or access to income generating assets; or loss of income sources or means of livelihood, whether or not the affected persons must move to another location, and includes loss, or restriction, of access to protected areas resulting in impacts on the livelihoods of the affected persons.

Physical displacement – Means the physical relocation or shifting of a person from his/her pre-project place of residence and/or business.

Rehabilitation – Means assistance provided to seriously affected people due to the loss of productive assets, incomes, employment or sources of living that require to be compensated in order to improve, or at least achieve full restoration of living standards to pre-project level. The livelihood support may be given in cash or in kind or a combination of the two in order to improve, or at least achieve full restoration of living standards to pre-project levels.

Replacement cost – Means the method of valuation of assets that helps determine the amount sufficient to replace lost assets and cover transaction costs. In applying this method of valuation, depreciation of structures and assets is not taken into account). Where domestic law does not meet the standard of compensation at full replacement cost, compensation under domestic law is supplemented by additional measures necessary to meet the replacement cost standard.

Significant impact – (i) physically displaced from housing, and/or (ii) having 10% or more of their productive, income generating assets (livelihood, employment, business, and/or access to community resources) lost. Affected people experiencing significant impacts are referred to as being “severely affected’’.

Vulnerable groups – Means, as per Decree 192, distinct groups of people who might suffer disproportionately from the loss of fixed and movable assets, other assets and production base or face the risk of being marginalized from the effects of resettlement and specifically include: (i) divorced or widowed female headed households with dependents and low income; (ii) households with disabled or invalid persons; (iii) households with persons falling under the generally accepted indicator for poverty as defined by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, or the landless; and (iv) elderly households with no means of support.

NOTE

This 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. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this website. 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.

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION 1

A. Scope and Purpose of this Report 1

B. Project Overview 1

C. Subproject Description 1

D. Description of proposed contract variation 2

E. Methodology 4

II. ASSESSMENT RESULTS 5

A. Transect Survey 5

B. Current situation of access roads 6

C. Social safeguards assessment 6

D. Proposed mitigation measures 6

III. CONCLUSION 7

IV. APPENDICES 8

A. Involuntary Resettlement Screening 8

B. Indigenous Peoples Impact Screening 9

C. Consultation with village administration and local residents 10

D. Contract Variation Proposal 14

E. State land title for relocation site 15

List of Figures Figure 1 – Roads improved by the Subproject ........................................................................ 2

Figure 2 – Typical cross section of access roads ................................................................... 3

Figure 3 – Existing roads proposed for rehabilitation .............................................................. 5

List of Tables Table 1 - Mitigation measures ................................................................................................. 7

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Scope and Purpose of this Report

1. This due diligence report (DDR) is prepared for a contract variation (referred to as Contract Variation No.1) that is proposed for the existing Houayxay Ecological Park and Recreation Area Subproject (HXY A2). The purpose of this DDR is to determine whether the contract variation will trigger the need for involuntary resettlement safeguards or indigenous people’s safeguards.

B. Project Overview

2. The Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is implementing the Second Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS2) Corridor Towns Development Project in two provinces: Bokeo and Luangnamtha. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting the project through Loan 3315-Lao and Loan 8296-Lao. The Project focuses on two towns (Houayxai Town in Bokeo Province, and Luangnamtha Town in Luangnamtha Province) located on the North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC) linking Lao PDR with People's Republic of China (PRC), Thailand and Myanmar.

3. The Houayxay Ecological Park and Recreation Area Subproject (HXY A2) is one of 10 subprojects implemented under the Second Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Corridor Towns Development Project:

• LNT A1- Urban Village Upgrading; Urban Roads and Drainage

• LNT A2 - Namtha River Bridge

• LNT A3 - Urban Recreation Facility Sports Hall and Park, Night Market

• LNT A4 - Wastewater Management

• LNT B1 - Solid Waste Management

• HXY A1 - River Port Rehabilitation and Riverbank Upgrading and Protection

• HXY A2 - Ecological Park and Recreation Area, Riverside Road and Walkway

• HXY B1 - Urban Roads and Drainage

• HXY B2 - Solid Waste Management

• HXY B3 - Wastewater Management

4. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) is the executing agency (EA), assisted by its Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP). The Department of Public Works and Transport (DPWT) in each province is the implementing agency (IA), assisted by a Project Implementation Unit (PIU).

C. Subproject Description

5. The subproject involves creation of an ecological and recreation park on a 43.16 ha site located at the northeastern side of Houayxai Town. The scope of work includes enhancement and extension of a natural lake, three access roads, construction of a business center in the middle of the park (with cafe, information/interpretation center, community education facilities, administration office and public toilet) and enhancement of the 1,059 m long eastern flank of the park that borders the Mekong River and which will include recreation facilities, restaurants, shops, and a hotel.

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D. Description of proposed contract variation

6. The proposed contract variation involves construction of 3 concrete paved access roads (EXT-R01, EXT-R02 and EXT-RO3) with a total length of 1.48 Km adjacent to the Eco-Park site (marked in red in Figure 1 below). The new roads will provide improved access for the local community, and particularly households physically displaced by the Subproject (as described in the published Land Acquisition, Compensation and Ethnic Group Development Plan dated September 2019). The contract variation will be funded from savings resulting from the competitive bidding of GMS2 subprojects.

7. The 3 roads will have a total length of 780 meters comprising (i) EXT-R01 530 meters length, (ii) EXT-R02 160 meters length, and (iii) EXT-R03 90 meters length. The typical cross section will be 6 meters road width with 0.8-meter covered drainage for residential area and two-meter open U-ditch elsewhere. A typical cross-section is presented in Figure 2. Concrete pavement design has been chosen to increase the road’s resilience to climate change effects and to reduce future maintenance cost for the government.

Figure 1 – Roads improved by the Subproject

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Figure 2 – Typical cross section of access roads

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E. Methodology

8. This due diligence assessment has been carried out with reference to:

• Engineering design documents for the proposed contract variation as presented in the Report on Proposed Variation No. 1 – Pavement Design Changes (dated 2 November 2020)

• A physical inspection of roads within the scope of the contract variation to check for potential impacts to roadside land, houses and other structures, crops and other community assets.

• Consultations with local community leaders to check for potential social risks and impacts.

• The resettlement principles, policies and entitlements established in the Subproject’s existing Land Acquisition, Compensation and Ethnic Group Development Plan (LACEGDP) published in September 2019 which are aligned with ADB Social Safeguards Policy and Lao PDR laws and regulations.

• The safeguards screening tool presented in Appendix A and Appendix B.

9. In case additional information becomes available prior to or during implementation of additional works the findings of this report will be reviewed and updated as appropriate.

10. This assessment was undertaken by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and Project resettlement specialists, in consultation with the local village administration.

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II. ASSESSMENT RESULTS

A. Transect Survey

11. A physical inspection of the 3 access roads has been conducted and photographs taken to document the current road condition, roadside properties and road side land uses (Figure 3).

Figure 3 – Existing roads proposed for rehabilitation

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B. Current situation of access roads

12. Access Road 1 is an existing unpaved road in poor condition and rarely used. On the left side is a concrete wall belonging to two government offices (KM0+120 to KM0+530). On the right side are agricultural lands with some fish ponds and fallow paddy fields not planted for several years. There are no houses or settlements along the road, which is dusty during the dry season and muddy during the rainy season (not suitable for vehicles without four-wheel drive).

13. Access Road 2 and Access Road 3 are new roads being developed by the Subproject to enable convenient access for households relocating from the Eco-Park site. These two access roads are being constructed within state land provided for relocation purposes (see Appendix E). These road sections were cleared of shrubs as part of the resettlement site clearing.

C. Social safeguards assessment

14. The 3 new and improved access roads proposed in the contract variation will not result in any involuntary resettlement impacts. All proposed road works will take place within the existing road alignment. No land, primary structures (e.g. houses and other buildings) or secondary structures (e.g. walls and fences) or productive assets (e.g. crops and trees) will be affected.

15. During construction vehicle access will need to be restricted, particularly when laying and curing concrete. It will be important to ensure reasonable access for relocating households currently constructing new homes on plots adjacent to these access roads. There are entrances to several agricultural plots along the route of Access Road 1, for which easement needs to be maintained during and after construction.

16. A consultation meeting with local community leaders was held on 6 August 2020 at the Houayxay Training Centre Hall. Information was provided about the road design and alignment. The village administration and beneficiary households voiced support for road works and confirmed that no private land, structures or livelihoods will be affected. Households with roadside property were assured that access restrictions during road construction will be minimized and that entrance ways will be restored immediately after the road pavement is complete. A record of consultations is contained in Appendix C.

17. A screening checklist has been completed for involuntary resettlement safeguards (Appendix A) identifying no issues of concern. A screening checklist has been completed for ethnic minority safeguards (Appendix B), which identifies ethnic minority groups in the project area but no additional action is required beyond what is already contained Subproject’s existing Land Acquisition, Compensation and Ethnic Group Development Plan (LACEGDP) published in September 2019.

D. Proposed mitigation measures

18. Proposed mitigation measures for potential impacts are summarized in the table below. No land acquisition or economic displacement will occur so a Resettlement Plan is not required. Instead, the mitigation measures shown below will elaborated within an Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) covering these additional works. Additionally a consultation meeting will be held with the neighboring properties prior to commencing works to present the work schedule and explain the measures being taken to minimize disturbance.

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Table 1 - Mitigation measures

Potential impacts Mitigation measures Details elaborated in:

Restricted access to

roadside properties during construction.

Avoid road closure to the greatest extent possible;

Avoid blocking access to properties alongside the road during construction;

Provide temporary access during construction.

Existing Subproject EMP

Safety risks to members of

public interacting with heavy machinery, excavations.

Ensure the road contractor

implements appropriate control measures.

Existing Subproject EMP

Noise, vibration and dust Ensure road contractor implements appropriate control measures

Existing FaNgum Road EMP

III. CONCLUSION

19. This due diligence assessment, based on engineering designs, site visits and consultations with local community representatives, concludes that the proposed contract variation does not trigger social safeguards beyond what is already contained in the Subproject’s existing Land Acquisition, Compensation and Ethnic Group Development Plan (LACEGDP) published in September 2019.

20. Social risks associated with road construction (noise, dust, safety, etc.) identified in this assessment will be mitigated through the Subproject’s existing Environmental Monitoring Plan.

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IV. APPENDICES

A. Involuntary Resettlement Screening

Project: Houayxay Ecological Park and Recreation Area Subproject (HXY A2) - Contract Variation No.1

No. Involuntary Resettlement Effects Response* Remarks

1. Will the activity require permanent or temporary

land acquisition?

No

2. Is the site and land needed for acquisition

known?

n/a

3. Is the ownership status and current usage of

land to be acquired known?

n/a

4. Is the area of land required from each affected

HH known?

n/a

5. Will land be acquired involuntarily? n/a

6. Will land be acquired voluntarily? n/a

7. Will easement be utilized within an existing Right

of Way (ROW)?

Yes

8. Was any facility constructed recently on new

land in anticipation of obtaining further

assistance for the facility from this ADB project?

No

9. Was the land acquired legally under Lao Law? n/a

10. Are there any outstanding complaints about the

land used or acquired for the existing facilities?

No

11. Will the activity require permanent or temporary

relocation or displacement of any people (titled

or non-title)?

No

12. Are there any non-titled people (Squatters) who

live at the site or within the COI / Right of Way /

Public land?

No

13. Will there be any loss of housing or

accommodation or other residential structures?

No

14. Will there be any loss of residential land? No

15. Will there be any loss of vegetable gardens or

agriculture plots?

No

16. Will there be any loses of crops, fruit trees or

private structures?

No

17. Will there be loss of income sources and means

of livelihood due to land acquisition?

No

18. Will any small or informal businesses have to be

moved or closed temporarily or permanently?

No

19. Will there be temporary or permanent loss of No

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No. Involuntary Resettlement Effects Response* Remarks

employment as a result of the closure of any

businesses resulting from renovation?

20. Will people lose access to natural resources, communal facilities and services?

No

21. If land use is changed, will it have an adverse impact on social and economic activities?

n/a No change in land use

22. Will access to land and resources owned communally or by the state be restricted?

No

23. Estimate of the likely number of persons that will be displaced by the project.

0

24. Are any of them poor, female-heads of households, or vulnerable to poverty risks?

n/a

25. Are any displaced persons from indigenous or ethnic groups?

n/a

B. Indigenous Peoples Impact Screening

KEY CONCERNS Respo

Remark

1 Are there socio-culture groups present in our

use the project area who may be considered as

“tribes” (hill tribes, schedules tribes, tribal

peoples), “minorities” (ethnic or national

minorities), or “indigenous communities” in the

Yes Affected households are Lao, Khmmu, Lue, Taidam and Yuan.

2 Are there national or local laws or policies as

well as anthropological researches/studies that consider these groups present in or using the

project area as belonging to “ethnic minorities”,

schedule tribes, tribal peoples, national minorities, or cultural communities?

Yes All ethnic groups in the project area

except Taidam are non-Lao speaking minority ethnic group.

3 Do such groups self-identify as being part of a district social and cultural group?

Yes

4 Do such groups maintain collective

attachments to distinct habitats or ancestral territories and/or to the natural resources in these habitats and territories?

Yes Connection to place is an important

part of the identity of many ethnic groups in Lao PDR.

* Response options: Yes, No, Don’t Know, N/A (not applicable)

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INTERNAL. This information is accessible to ADB Management and staff. It may be shared outside ADB with appropriate permission.

C. Consultation with village administration and local residents

MINUTES OF PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE (Access Road and Crematorium Renovation Additional Works in Houayxay– GMS2

Corridor Towns Development Project) Venue: Houayxay Training Center Hall Date & Time: August 6, 2019 started at 8:30 ended at 11:30. Total Participant: 64 persons Female: 25 persons Language: the consultation was conducted in the local Lao language Opening/Presentation: Mr. Bounnong DYTHONGSY Houayxay Governance Office Deputy opening remark emphasized on GMS2-corridor town development project is government loan from ADB with low interest which aims to obtain the economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development. This project is integrated with regional infrastructure development, which focus on district prioritization on environment infrastructure align with provincial social economic development strategy. He also impressed that this public consultation aims to provide basic information regarding potential impacts on environment and opportunity for villagers to raising any concern regarding environment new proposed addition work. Mr. Somphong SAYASANE presented the project background and proposed new additional works to the orients, he explained the source of funds, all subproject in Houaxay, current progress of the project and end up with proposed new additional works. The NES discussed the potential impact during the construction period, particularly the air/dust pollution, noise and vibration, effects on surface water and soil, waste generation, including health and safety, and the likelihood of disruptions during construction. The NES presented the details of the approved GRM mechanism of the project, including the complaints channels such as contractor, consultant, village head, PIU/DPWT, PCU, and Court as the final option. The NES also presented the details of the proposed concrete roads to 10 households and the proposed crematorium renovation in the existing cremation areas by improving access road, parking lots, public toilets, culture ceremony hall and three stoves (burning stove). 5. Issues, Views, Concerns, and Discussions:

1. Mr. Kham-On, Houayxay-tai Village Chief: raised his concerns as (1) volume of the water and drainage design, water volume might larger amounts than drainage design, so engineer should collect detail information, and to be sure that drainages are properly discharged to drainage and flow smoothly. (2) previous experiences found that water was overflowed, because drainage was small and some areas use the RC piles, which was difficult to clean and maintenance. (3) it would be better to use U-Ditch, it will be easy to clean and flow of the water. (4) the crematorium renovation will not be affected any issues, if the construction focused only the existing cremation area as initiative designed, if construction access to existing cemetery, it would be created large impacts to graves and their families, it is sensitive cases, we expected it will not disturb to existing grave as mentioned.

a. Team responded that, (1) usually, because DED, the survey team collected all necessary information, included weather, climate change, rainfall for many decades, thus, the designers will use all necessary information to analysis, included this public consultation will support to finalize the detail engineering design. (2) basically, all drainages are designed as U-ditch, small or big, it would

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INTERNAL. This information is accessible to ADB Management and staff. It may be shared outside ADB with appropriate permission.

be depended on estimation of water flow rate. (3) Team also confirmed that crematorium will be designed only the existing cremation areas, it will not touch to existing grave areas.

2. Mr. Khamsai Seng-onkeo, Khonekeo Village Chief: (1) we do agree with construction, we do believe, it would be better than current situation. (2) it would be better to collect detail information regarding the exiting graves, announce information to the public and consult with them. (3) religion ceremony should be held before any construction, (4) other two villagers also commented that we would not happy if the crematorium renovation will encroach to graves areas, if the construction based on the existing cremation area, it would be no problem for us. (5) other villagers asked for more clarification, what are different among contractor, consultant and project owner? Currently, we see no different.

a. Team explained that (1) absolutely, the religion ceremony will be organized before any construction started, as the same as before surveying, religion ceremony was conducted and allowed survey team to enter to the cremation areas. (2) as we discussed previously, the crematorium will focus only exiting creation areas, in the case, construction found any discovery/chance find, it will be stop and immediately communicate with relevance agency, it will be highlighted in the environment management plan (EMP). (3) we understood, currently you might not regularly see the consultant or project owner, in the construction you will usually see workers of contractor. If you carefully observed you will see that helmet is used difference logo, if project own you will see logo of project, if consultant you will see logo of Burapa and contractor, they might have logo of company or no logo. (4) this public consultation we informed and invited all villagers to participate, but many villagers do not come, we expected that after this consultation, you can re-organized and inform your villagers again for who did not participate this public consultation.

3. Mr. Maisompha Elderly of Khonekeo Village: (1) we request to start work as soon as possible, we already discussed many times, we are waiting for it (2) the negative impact during construction, it is minor issues, we knew, it will occurred, we will inform all villagers during pre-construction/ before construction start. (3) in generally, crematorium renovation can be constructed immediately, however, it would be good, if project setup the coordination agency for responsible in case, there are any impact during construction, it can immediately solve the issues. a. Public Consultation Team explained to concerning issue as (1) We could not start

immediately as private budget, this is loan from ADB and under Lao PDR government regulation, there is certain procedure, public consultation is one of the procedures, we expected that the end of 2019, construction can be started. (2) we understood, some people might consider as minor, but some person might think the same, so we carefully process, consult with all of you to ensure that we are working on the right track and minimize negative impact as possible. (3) the NES has recently presented that if there is any concern or impact to your family, you can contact or complain to different channels as contractor, consultant, village authority, PIU, PIU and court, later, contractor will setup feedback box in each village office, so you can

any concern to the box or call directly to contractor, or other parties as indicated in the signpost with detail contact.

4. Mrs. Somphone Somphanit Woman Union/ village head of Houayxay-Neua Village. (1) the impact from road construction on dust, traffic congestion, commercial lost and other inconvenience, so project should be specified, clearly timeline for each road section, this workplan should be disclosed to public, villagers will be understood and followed up with mitigation in the plan. (2) the similar to impact to funeral ceremony, construction plan and mitigation should be clear, particular during the construction, what village can do and how project organize the cremation during the construction.

a. Team Responded that (1) thank you for value comments, we will take account your comments to our EMP, the mitigation plan will be included traffic management,

disruption of funeral ceremony, disruption of cemetery and other general environmental impact.

6. Mr. Virachith Douangchanh Deputy of PCU re-emphasized grievance redness mechanism and explained subproject construction delayed from resettlement work. He also deep discussed regarding the concerns of villagers, explain the procedure and importance of public consultation.

7. Mr. Bounnong DYTHONGSY Houayxay Governance Office Deputy, thanks to project, partners and village authorities and villagers for participating the public consultation, and he also re-emphasize the importance of the public consultation, open space for villagers to provide comments or feedback, including the questions, concerns that are importance to project document procedure and he also believe that all environment impacts will be mitigated.

8. Local TV journalist was invited to public consultation as well to collect and record the public consultation, the consultation news was released on local TV in the afternoon on August 6, 2019. And the news still available on the link below: https://www.facebook.com/100025914798042/videos/400548667485623/

Minutes taken by: Anouxay Phommalath, NES

9. PHOTOGRAPHS OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE (Access Road and Crematorium in Houaxay – GMS2 Corridor Towns Development Project)

Opening Remark by Deputy of Governance Project Background is presented by PIU Deputy

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Group Photos of Total Participants at the end of the public consultation section

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INTERNAL. This information is accessible to ADB Management and staff. It may be shared outside ADB with appropriate permission.

D. Contract Variation Proposal

E. State land title for relocation site

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