THE REQUEST
The Request for Inspection was submitted on December 24, 2022, by 35 individuals living in the Project area of Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam. They asked the Panel to keep their identities confidential.
The Requesters complained that they had been harmed by the methodology used for calculating land prices for resettlement land, and that different resettlement “decisions” made in December 2014 and August 2021 by the People’s Committee of Khanh Hoa Province had been inconsistently applied. They claimed that they owned Project-affected houses and land before the Project cut-off date, and that they were entitled to on-site resettlement, but that Project authorities had deemed them ineligible. The Requesters alleged that some households that were at one time part of the resettlement program were subsequently excluded from it. The Requesters believed that their land had been miscategorized and hence undervalued, and that the resettlement package had neither compensated them for the replacement value nor adequately restored their livelihoods. The Request also alleged that some households had been “forced to” accept the acquisition of their land.
PANEL DECISION
On February 23, 2023, the Panel issued a Notice of Non-Registration for the Request. While the Panel noted Management appeared to have had prior knowledge of resettlement-related issues in this Project, the Panel was not satisfied that Management had had a reasonable opportunity to respond to the allegations raised in the Request. Furthermore, the change in the Project resettlement area led the Panel to conclude that the Requesters were no longer affected by the Project’s resettlement valuation and compensation process. During its due diligence process, Management informed the Panel that the change in the scope of land acquisition and resettlement excluded the area where the Requesters lived from the Project’s resettlement program. Management acknowledged that the Requesters had not yet been informed of the decision that they would no longer be resettled. Management followed up with the Panel on February 18, 2023, that a notification was issued on the PMU’s website advising formerly affected households of the situation, and that these households would also receive individual letters on this matter. The Panel considered that the Requesters were no longer affected by the Project’s resettlement valuation and compensation process. Hence, the Panel concluded that the Request did not meet all admissibility criteria. The Panel noted that this decision does not preclude the possibility of a future Request for Inspection based on new evidence or circumstances not known at the time of the current Request.
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