THE REQUEST
The Request for Inspection was submitted on August 27, 2023, by 31 individuals from the Project area of Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam. This is the second Request concerning this Project; the Panel received a first Request on December 27, 2022, which was not registered. In November 2023, during the Panel’s eligibility visit , community members affected by the Project raised additional grievances and asked to be included as part of the Request. The Panel added these grievances as part of the Request.
The Request raised five interrelated allegations concerning the resettlement process: i) restrictions placed since 2016 on the properties of affected households in the Ngoc Hiep Resettlement Site (NHRS), rendering owners unable to apply for new land certificates, or build, repair, or rent their structures, ii) inconsistent application of resettlement policies and related consultations which, the Requesters claim, resulted in unfair treatment of some affected households, iii) the adequacy of the valuation methodology used for Project-related resettlement that, according to them, resulted in unfairly low compensation packages, iv) intimidation during the resettlement process, and v) the alleged exclusion of households from the resettlement process for having complained about aspects of the Project.
The Panel conducted its initial due diligence and verified that it met the admissibility criteria for registration. On September 25, 2023, the Panel registered the second Request and issued a Notice of Registration.
MANAGEMENT RESPONSE
Bank Management provided its response to the allegations made in the Request on November 8, 2023. Bank Management provided an addendum to its response to the additional grievances made by the community during the eligibility visit. on December 20, 2023. The NHRS comprises six hectares of land acquired and cleared in 2018, 2.6 hectares acquired and cleared in 2021, and 4.83 hectares that remained unacquired to date. The Management refers to the 2.6 hectares area as 2.5 hectares and to the 4.83 hectares area as five hectares for easier reading.
In its Response, Management provided the background and history of the NHRS, including the Government’s Master Plan (2005 and 2016 update), the resettlement activities, and the implications of December 2022 Project restructuring that discontinued the acquisition of a five-hectare portion of the NHRS. Management stated this was not in response to complaints filed by community members. Management maintained that the Project has not introduced changes in land use rights and has not supported the implementation of any restrictions. Management described the compensation calculation and methodology of NHRS. Management stated that it undertook a due diligence review of 222 compensation packages offered to households in the six-hectare and the 2.5-hectare areas in February and June 2023 and concluded that for the exception of compensation packages for 19 households all complied with Bank policy requirements. Management added that it sent the 19 cases to the Project Management Unit in June 2023 to bring them into compliance. Management stated that police was present, as required by law, to support public officials during compulsory land acquisition process when they are carrying large sums of cash for compensation payments.
PANEL REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
A Panel team visited Viet Nam from November 14 to 21, 2023 to inform its report and recommendation to the Board of Executive Directors as to whether an investigation into the matters alleged in the Request is warranted. During the visit, the Panel team met with various stakeholders including officials in Ha Noi from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, and the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, as well as World Bank staff. In Nha Trang City, the team met with officials of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Peoples’ Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Ngoc Hiep Ward People’s Committee. The team also met with the Requesters and affected community members in the NHRS.
The Panel requested to the Board, an extension of the submission of its Report and Recommendation to January 22, 2024 to which it approved, This extension was to provide Management sufficient time to respond to the additional grievances added to the Request.
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