Mekong Watch CATFISH TALES
TOPIC: HARBOR BUILDING--IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT THE ADB WAY
Date: 8 May 2004
HARBOR BUILDING--IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT THE ADB WAY:
-ADB DISREGARDS PEOPLE'S CONCERNS REGARDING HARBOR CONSTRUCTION ON TONLE
SAP LAKE-
In the name of "Environmental Management" and "Environmental Improvement,"
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to build at least 2 harbors in
the flood plain of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Local fishers and NGOs
around the Lake have voiced strong opposition to these plans, citing
numerous feared social and environmental impacts, but their voices have
been dismissed.
Many of these concerns were voiced at five public consultations held in
provinces around Tonle Sap Lake last year (September-October), and during a
three-day national consultation in Siem Reap in March 2004. These public
consultations were in regard to an ADB Technical Assistance (TA) project
called, "Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project."
Concerns raised by local communities and NGOs at the public consultations
for the Tonle Sap Environmental Management Project included:
- Degradation of the environment, biodiversity, ecosystem, and fish
resources of Tonle Sap Lake
- Increased in-migration to the Lake
- Increased boat traffic
- Increased exploitation of Tonle Sap Lake's resources
- Increased pollution
- Degradation of fish habitats
- Increased exploitation/vulnerability of the poor due to the growing
power of private companies to impose fees in the areas of the harbor
that they lease
- Land grabbing
- Impoverishment of local fishers
In spite of the strong rejection of harbor construction plans expressed at
the consultations last year, the ADB published a "draft 5 year general
fisheries plan" which includes plans for harbor construction. The draft
5-year plan, which is supposedly based on input from stakeholders, writes
that one of its objectives is "to increase fish and fish product value by
provision of harbors and improved fish marketing facilities..." referring to
harbor construction. At the national consultation in March 2004, local
communities and NGOs repeatedly rejected the harbor plan described in the
draft, only to be dismissed again. The harbors still remain in the plan.
Before the ADB makes its decision to actually fund the harbor projects, ADB
policies require that it goes through processes specific to the harbor
projects regardless of what it says in the general 5-year plan. The ADB
must still, therefore, prepare studies to understand the environmental and
social impacts of the harbor construction, and consult affected communities
and NGOs and incorporate their opinions into the project. In this regard,
communities and NGO should have opportunities to participate in the actual
decision-making of the harbor project.
CHONG KNEAS "ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT"
Unfortunately, this has not yet been the case for the harbor project in
Chong Kneas. This is because the specific plans for the Chong Kneas harbor
are contained in another TA called the "Chong Kneas Environmental
Improvement Project" that has been proceeding simultaneously but separately
from the drafting process for the 5-year plan. Public consultations for
this TA have been held, but have excluded communities around the Lake that
are from outside Chong Kneas. The ADB justifies this exclusion of
important stakeholders, who clearly have strong opinions about the project,
with the reasoning that this TA is for the improvement of the environment
of Chong Kneas. The ADB claims that the impact of the harbor will be
insignificant, or limited mostly to the project area, and that it is
therefore unnecessary to consult a broader population.
The Chong Kneas Environmental Improvement Project is a US$1.1 million TA to
prepare the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the feasibility study
for the harbor in Chong Kneas. This TA is being funded mainly by the
Government of Finland through the ADB. The remainder is being financed by
the Cambodian Government. Despite the TA's environmentally friendly name,
the draft EIA prepared by the Finnish consultant firm PLANCENTER Ltd
reveals that it is nothing more and nothing less than a harbor construction
project. The project's presumed objective is to "improve the social and
natural environment at Chong Kneas," and the TA proposes various social
development plans for the local communities living in the floating villages
on the lake or the lake's embankment, whom the ADB identifies as the main
cause of environmental degradation. The TA does not, however, include any
alternative social development plans that would not require the
construction of a harbor. Moreover, ADB documents explicitly state that
this TA has evolved from the ADB's predetermined intention to build a harbor.
How do local communities in Chong Kneas feel about the harbor project? The
ADB claims that the majority of the local communities welcome the
project. The accuracy of the ADB's understanding of the communities'
opinions is questionable, however, since the local people have been given
information primarily about the benefits of the projects, and have been
told that the environmental impacts will be insignificant. And most
importantly, the ADB is in effect offering to improve the lives of local
communities only if they accept the harbor.
In sum, calling the harbor building plan in Chong Kneas an "environmental
improvement project" effectively buffers the ADB from obvious requirements
for broader public consultation and considering the indirect and cumulative
environmental impacts of the harbor. It limits the scope of environmental
impact assessment (EIA), as well as the definition of affected people, to
the close vicinity of the project site. By doing so, the negative impacts
of the harbor are being downplayed or not appropriately considered, and the
benefits of the project over-emphasized. The name of the TA, being an
"environmental improvement project," and its presumed altruistic objective
are obstacles to local people's clear understanding of what the project
really is.
NGOs CONCERNED ABOUT EIA AND ADB POLICY VIOLATIONS
As this TA is coming to a close and moving toward the loan processing stage
in which the ADB will consider funding the project, local communities and
NGOs are increasingly concerned. In February 2004, a local NGO submitted a
letter to the ADB Management describing the concerns about the draft EIA of
the Chong Kneas harbor project and ADB policy violations in the public
consultation process. The NGO requested that the EIA be revised and that
consultations be held with local communities around Tonle Sap Lake not
limited to Chong Kneas. The ADB responded, claiming that the processes
behind the EIA and the consultations were appropriate. NGOs are now,
therefore, preparing detailed comments on the draft EIA to push the ADB to
respond to communities' concerns.
TONLE SAP LAKE
Tonle Sap Lake, known as the heart of Cambodia, is recognized for its
fragile yet vital ecology, and for its role as a source of livelihood and
food security for a vast number of Cambodian fishers and farmers. It
produces approximately 50 thousand tons of fish annually. Fish is a vital
and generally affordable food source accounting for over 75% of animal
protein consumption, and is especially important for rural households which
comprise almost 90% of the poor in Cambodia.
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