News & Visuals

First Request for Inspection-Nepal: Arun 111 Hydroelectric Project

Washington, D.C., November 4, 1994- Mr. Ernst-Günther Bröder, the Chairman of the independent Inspection Panel for the World Bank registered yesterday a Request for Inspection related to the proposed Arun III Hydroelectric Project in Nepal. This is the first Request to be registered.

The Panel has been established to provide people directly and adversely affected by a Bank-financed project with an independent forum through which they ca request the Bank to act in accordance with its own policies and procedures.

The Request has been filed by several citizens of Nepal. Two of the Requesters claim that they and their families have already been directly and adversely affected by the project. All Requesters allege violations by IDA of provisions of various Operational Policies and Procedures.

Registration means that the Request appears to fall within the Panel's mandate: it does not imply any judgment by the Panel on the merits of the claims.

The next step is for the Management of the Bank to respond to the claims made in the Request no later than December 6, 1994. No later than 21 days after receives this response, the Panel will make a recommendation to the Bank's Board of Executive Directors on whether or not the claims should be investigated. The Executive Directors then decide whether to accept or reject this recommendation.

Copies of the Notice of Registration are available at the Bank's Public Information Center (Tel: (202) 458-5454) and on INTERNET through the World Bank

Public Information Server Gopher, under Inspection Panel.