GEORGIA
Sustainable Urban Transport Investment Program (Tranche 3)
Apartment Building 12 v/g, Rustavi Highway at Ponichala where the complainants live (photo by CRP).
42414-043
25 November 2013
Closed
Loan 3063: 73ドル million
Under Tranche 3, ADB lent to the Government of Georgia (the Borrower)
73ドル million from its ordinary capital resources. The objective of the project is to develop an efficient, affordable, and environmentally sustainable transportation system that forms part of the south to east route of the country. The project is expected to improve the transport system and infrastructure in the urban areas and comprises two subprojects: (i) section 2 (kilometer 4.0 to 10.8) of the international standard Tbilisi–Rustavi Urban Road Link and (ii) phase 2 of Anaklia Coastal Improvement. Both are in line with the components of the investment program. The Municipal Development Fund of Georgia is the project executing, implementing, and disbursing agency. The project has been planned to focus on the improvement of the existing transport services linking Rustavi to Tbilisi. It targets the provision of facilities such as interchanges, an underpass, a wider bridge road, bus stops, a retaining wall, and a footbridge to ensure a quick, safe, and reliable bus services. It also guarantees proper physical link to Tbilisi and Rustavi at the entrance of the city. The program was developed as the government’s response to the transportation problems in the urban areas, which include large traffic volumes between Tbilisi and Rustavi route causing increasing delays in the movement of people and goods.
14 March 2016 (1st complaint)
2016/1
81 project-affected people (for this first complaint, with a total of 201 complainants for all the four complaints to CRP on this project)
Three of the four complaints included noise and vibration, and inadequate consultation with disadvantaged and differently abled-affected persons. The fourth was related to compensation.
Eligible, 21 June 2016
Closed
Following the findings of noncompliance by the CRP, Management submitted a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) to the Board which was approved in June 2017. As the RAP included studies and consultations that defined succeeding actions, a Remedial Action Plan–Final Solutions (RAP-FS) was sent to the CRP for comments and submitted to the BCRC for approval. The RAP and the RAP-FS were the bases for the CRP’s monitoring of the project from 2017. However, due to the lack of cooperation of some residents of the affected buildings buildings in Ponichala, in 2019, the Municipal Development Fund of Georgia (MDF) decided not to proceed with the construction of the new road along the river which was supposed to pass along the buildings of the complainants. As such, some of the actions in the RAP and the RAP-FS which refered to the new road in Ponichala were no longer relevant.
With the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia, not much could be done in 2020. The multitranche financing facility for the project closed in 18 July 2020.
In July 2021, the MDF of Georgia submitted a Technical Solution Report to ADB’s Central and West Asia Department describing in detail the remaining relevant actions in the RAP-FS, which became the basis for tendering a civil works contract for those actions. That contract was signed on 19 October 2021 and works commenced a few days later. While the contract stipulated completion of all the works within 80 days, the MDF informed the CRP that the contractor aimed to complete all activities relating to the contract by the end of December 2021.
To ascertain the progress of implementation of remaining relevant action in the RAP and RAP-FS, the CRP met with the MDF and visited the project site in October and November 2021. It also held separate meetings with the three groups of complainants in October 2021. The MDF informed the CRP that the tree-planting had been completed and that the remaining works to be covered under the awarded contract were (i) riverbank restoration and (ii) removal of the stockpile of construction materials near building 28a. The CRP was able to confirm both with the MDF and the representatives of the complainants that the affected persons had been informed about the termination of the ADB loan and that the CRP was now only monitoring the completion of the remaining remedial works.1
At the end of its monitoring, the CRP noted the status of implementation of the remedial actions as follows:
| Management’s Action Plan Topic | Status of Implementation and Remarks of CRP |
|---|---|
|
Noise impacts |
Status of compliance: Partial implementation Loan closure and no construction of the new road in Ponichala rendered further action redundant. |
|
Vibration impacts |
Status of compliance: Partial implementation Loan closure and no construction of the new road in Ponichala rendered further action redundant. |
|
Impacts on vulnerable groups
|
Status of compliance: Partial implementation Loan closure and no construction of the new road in Ponichala rendered further action redundant. |
|
Impacts on river ecology
|
Status of compliance: Partial implementation Remedial action on this topic, as set out in the RAP and RAP-FS, does not provide a basis for further action beyond that to be implemented by the end of December 2021 given that the loan had closed and that the Ponichala section of the road had not been built. |
|
Consultations |
Status of compliance: Full implementation Affected persons were informed about loan closure and cessation of ADB’s funding for the project. |
|
Environmental categorization of the project |
Status of compliance: Full implementation |
ADB = Asian Development Bank, CRP = Compliance Review Panel, RAP = Remedial Action Plan, RAP-FS = Remedial Action Plan Final Solution.
Source: Para. 32, pages 9 and 10 of https://lnadbg4.adb.org/dir0035p.nsf/attachments/GEO-SUTIP-MonitoringRpt-31Jan2022.pdf/$FILE/GEO-SUTIP-MonitoringRpt-31Jan2022.pdf
Based on the Accountability Mechanism Policy, affected persons may raise complaints up to 2 years from project closure. The CRP notes that in this project, the closure of the project loan without completion of the Ponichala stretch of the road meant that several actions in the RAP and RAP-FS that could have mitigated the impacts of construction and eventual road operation on complainants (such as actions to address noise and vibration and to secure unsafe additions to affected peoples’ buildings) effectively became redundant. As a result, some of the improvements to complainants’ buildings that would have been the result of complete RAP-FS implementation were not accomplished. Furthermore, the complainants expressed considerable uncertainty regarding any future revival of the road project outside the scope of the now-closed ADB loan.
Under the Accountability Mechanism Policy, a compliance review process does not halt project implementation but provides a means of assurance for complainants that the project will proceed in accordance with ADB policies and procedures. Given the eventual decision of the borrower not to construct the Ponichala section of the road, the CRP is not able to deliver this assurance for any future construction of a Ponichala section of the road since this is not financed by ADB.
The CRP’s first compliance review monitoring mission in 2018 (photo by OCRP).
The CRP’s first compliance review monitoring mission in 2018 (photo by OCRP).
PHILIPPINES
Visayas Base-Load Power Development Project
The location of the 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in the district of Colon, Naga, Cebu Province (photo by OCRP).
43906-014
11 December 2009
Closed
Loan 3063: 120ドル million
The project involves the construction and operation of a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Naga City, Cebu, in the Visayas region. The plant is needed to address the power shortage in the region and will adopt a more environment-friendly technology by using circulating fluidized bed combustion boilers. It will provide base-load power to the grid.
25 May 2011
2011/1
Several project-affected people (with a representative)
The complainants asserted that the project would cause skin and
respiratory diseases and other illnesses among residents of the area and nearby communities.Failure of ADB to follow the policies and procedures under its Environment Policy, Public Communications Policy, and Energy Policy, as well as the required public consultation and disclosure of the environmental impact assessment, with details about coal ash disposal.
Eligible, 20 June 2011
Active
The CRP continued to request updates on the completion of TA 8338: Air Quality Management for the Visayas Base-Load Power Development Project as a way for Management to address the remaining remedial actions. In a virtual meeting with the consultant for this TA, the CRP discussed the methodology and outcomes of the air quality modeling validation study. In a virtual meeting among the CRP, the regional director and technical staff of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region 7, and the Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD) on 18 June 2021, the CRP was informed that the draft report of the dispersion modeling study had been presented to the Airshed Management Board with the mayor of Naga City in attendance, and that the training of the technical staff of the EMB Region 7 Office on the dispersion model had been conducted by ADB consultants and the PSOD.
Further, the regional director of EMB Region 7 informed the CRP that data from other emission sources would be gathered to update the model so that there would also be a basis for developing an air quality action plan. The PSOD coordinated with the consultants on the extension of the license at no cost to ensure continued use of the software for data processing and analysis by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) EMB Region 7. With the closure of TA 8338, ADB turned over to DENR EMB Region 7 five CALPUFF view software licenses (which is the graphical user interface software for the CALPUFF modeling system used to develop the Air Quality Model for Naga City) and the two Continuous Ambient Air Monitoring stations. DENR EMB Region 7 has also taken the responsibility of the entire operation and maintenance of the Continuous Ambient Air Monitoring stations with budget for succeeding years incorporated in the regular operating expenses of said office.
The development of an air quality improvement action plan was based on the recommendations of the TA-funded air quality modeling study which will be presented to and hopefully adopted by the Airshed Governing Board of Cebu City for its effective and timely implementation. Per PSOD’s consultation with DENR EMB Region 7, presentation of the action plan to the Airshed Governing Board of Cebu City is expected to be done by the second quarter of 2022.