THE REQUEST
The Request for Inspection was submitted on March 7, 2023, by four individuals from Midane, Lebanon. They authorized a representative of the Arab Watch Coalition, a regional coalition of civil societies from the Middle East and North Africa region, to support them in the Panel process.
The Requesters alleged that they lost their land, and substantial income from this land, when their orchard, which they claimed was located within the boundaries of the Greater Beirut Water Supply Project (P103063), was included in the Project for expropriation. They explained that they were unsure whether their land had been acquired under the Greater Beirut Water Supply Project (P103063) and its Additional Financing (P165711) or under the Water Supply Augmentation Project (P125184), due to unclear language in available documents. They further allege that the orchard was then acquired prior to receipt of compensation, and that the compensation amount was inadequate.. They explained that they had appealed the initial valuation of their land in court, which ruled in their favor, but that this ruling had been disregarded by the Project and that severe currency devaluation during the compensation process rendered their compensation inadequate and caused them substantial harm. They also explained that they had to pay a considerable “clearance fee” to facilitate the compensation process and, due to the expiration of the clearance period of one calendar year, were pressured to accept less in compensation than what the court had determined. They alleged that they await receipt of adequate compensation despite losing the land more than five years ago.
PANEL DECISION
On April 17, 2023, the Panel issued a Notice of Non-Registration. The Panel’s due diligence concluded that the land acquisition and resettlement process subject to this Request was undertaken under the Water Supply Augmentation Project. As per the Panel’s Resolution and Operating Procedures, for registration of a Request a project must have been approved by the Board before September 8, 2020, and the loan must not be closed or 95 percent or more disbursed. Since the Augmentation Project was approved on September 30, 2014, and was 100 percent disbursed at the time of receipt of the Request, it was inadmissible.
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