Structure and Content of the Resettlement Policy Framework

Al Mokha 60MW Wind Farm Project Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF)

Submitted to:

Republic of Yemen

Ministry of Electricity and Energy

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Boxes

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

chapter one: project specific information

1.1 Al Mokha Wind Farm 60 MW Project (MWFP)

1.1.1 Project Background

1.1.2 Project Objective

1.1.3 Project Proposed Location and Components

1.2 Principles and Objectives Governing Resettlement Preparation And Implementation

1.2.1 Policy Principles

1.2.2 Policy Objectives

1.2.3 Policy Coverage

1.3 Preparing and Approving Resettlement Plans

1.3.1 Resettlement Instruments

1.4 Estimated Population of PAPs and Categories of PAPs

1.5 Eligibility Criteria

1.5.1 Compensation under Land Ownership

1.5.2 Compensation under Severity of Impact

1.5.3 Establishing Procedures and Eligibility Criteria

1.6 Compensations and Methods for Asset Valuation

1.6.1 Asset Valuation

1.6.2 Asset Valuation Method

1.6.3 Compensation

1.7 Organizational Arrangements for Entitlement Delivery

1.7.1 The World Bank

1.7.2 The Project Management Unit (PMU)

1.7.3 Local Authorities (Local Councils)

1.7.4 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

1.7.5 External Consultant(s)

1.8 Implementation Process and Linkage to Civil Works

1.8.1 Resettlement Plans

1.8.2 Timeframes

1.8.3 Linking Resettlement Implementation to Civil Works

1.9 Grievance Redress Mechanisms

1.9.1 Objective of Grievance Redress

1.10 Sources of Financing for Funding Resettlement

1.11 Consultation and Participation

1.11.1 Notification Procedure

1.11.2 Public Consultation Mechanisms

1.12 Monitoring and Evaluation Arrangements

1.12.1 Internal Monitoring

1.12.2 External Monitoring

chapter two: YEMENI LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Main National Legislation that Regulates Land Acquisition

2.1.1 Land Ownership within the Yemeni Legislations Framework

2.1.2 Privately Owned Land

2.1.3 State–Owned or Government Land (Miri)

2.1.4 Communal Land

2.1.5 Endowment / Waqf Land

2.1.6 Agricultural Land

2.1.7 Land for Neighborhood Rights

2.1.8 Laws Governing Squatters

2.1.9 Other Types of Land

2.2 Land Acquisition: Key Issues and Procedures (Law 1 year 1995)

2.3 Institutional Arrangements

2.3.1 General Authority for Land Survey and Urban Planning (GALSUP)

2.3.2 The Ministry of Public Works and Highways (MoPWH)

2.3.3 The Ministry of Finance (MoF)

2.3.4 Local Councils

2.3.5 Additional Mechanisms

2.4 Main Challenges Related to Land Ownership and Institutional Capacities

Chapter three: Gaps Between YemenI Legislation and The World Bank OP 4.12

3.1 Discrepancies between Yemeni Laws and OP 4.12

3.1.1 Calculation and Timing of Compensation

3.1.2 Definition of Affected Persons (PAPs)

3.1.3 Public Participation, Consultation

3.1.4 Grievance Mechanisms

3.1.5 Vulnerable groups

3.1.6 Resettlement assistance

3.1.7 Rights of Squatters

3.2 Capacity Building Needs

Annex I: The Process of RAP/ARP preparation and the different resettlement steps within the project cycle.

Annex II: Entitlement Matrix for Affected Persons

Annex III: Summary of the registration survey results at Mokha 60 MW Wind Farm Project (MWFP) Site

Annex IV: Types of Acquisition and the Regulating Articles of Law 1, 1995

List of References

List of Tables

Table 1.1 / Size of Settlements within the Project Site
Table 1.2 / Potential Number of Negatively Affected Households within the FourVillages and the Types of Impacts
Table 1.3 / Replacement Cost for Tangible Assets

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 / The Proposed Location of Al Mokha Wind Farm
Figure 1.2 / The Three Proposed Scenarios of WTG in the Project Site
Figure 1.3 / The Villages within the Project Sites
Figure 1.4 / Main Approaches for the Grievance Redress
Figure 3.1 / PAPs Consultation and Participation in the RAP/ARP along the Project Cycle

List of Boxes

Box 1.1 / Guidelines for the Monitoring Indicators
Box 2. 1 / Issues Related to Land Acquisition and the Yemeni Relevant Laws
Box 2. 2 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Private Land Property
Box 2.3 / Yemeni Legislations Governing State/Government Land Property
Box 2.4 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Communal Land Property
Box 2.5 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Endowment/ Waqf Land
Box 2.6 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Agricultural Land
Box 2.7 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Neighborhood Rights
Box 2.8 / Yemeni Legislations Governing Rights of Squatters

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AFD / Agence Française de développement
ARPs / Abbreviated Resettlement Plans
EC / Estimation Committee
ESIA / Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
ESMP / Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP)
FCC / Feedback and Complaint Committee
FGD / Focus Group Discussions
IDB / Islamic Development Bank
IR / Involuntary Resettlement
LRC / Local Resettlement Committee
M&E / Monitoring and Evaluation
MoEE / The Ministry of Electricity and Energy
MPP / Mokha Power Plant
MWFP / Mokha 60MW Wind Farm Project
OP / Operational Policy
PAPs / Project Affected Persons
PMU / Project Management Unit
PRA / Participatory Rapid Appraisals
RAPs / Resettlement Action Plans
RED / Renewable Energy Department
RESAP / Renewable Energy Strategy and Action Plan
RPF / Resettlement Policy Framework
SDO / Social Development Officer
SPC / Special Purpose Company
WB / World Bank
WTG / Wind Turbines Generators

GLOSSARY

Abbreviated Resettlement Plan / Establish a baseline through the census of PAPs which will comprise socio-economic data, the inventory of assets lost, and the compensation and resettlement benefits awarded to the PAPs.
Affected persons / All persons who, as result of work carried out or to be carried out under the Project, would incur involuntary loss, temporarily or permanently, of land, shelter, productive assets or access to productive assets, or of income or means of livelihood and, as consequence, would have their living standards or production levels adversely affected.
Compensation / Payment in cash or in kind to replace losses of land, housing income, and other assets caused by the project.
Cut off Date / The date of the census prior to which the occupation or use of
the project area qualifies residents or users of the project area
as affected persons.
Involuntary / Actions that may be taken without the displaced person’s informed consent or power of choice.
Involuntary Resettlement (IR) / The unavoidable displacement of people and/or impact on their livelihood, assets and common property resulting from development projects that create the need for rebuilding their livelihood, sources of income and asset bases.
Land Acquisition / The process whereby a person is compelled by a public agency to alienate all or part of the land s/he owns or possesses, to the ownership and possession of that agency, for a public purpose, in return for fair compensation.
Monitoring / The process of repeated observations and measurements of environmental and social quality parameters to assess and enable changes over a period of time.
Project Affected Person / Includes any people, households, firms or private institutions who, on account of changes that result from the project will have their (i) standard of living adversely affected, (ii) right, title, or interest in any house, land (including residential, commercial, agricultural, forest, and/or grazing land), water resources, or any other moveable or fixed assets acquired, possessed, restricted, or otherwise adversely affected, in full or in part, permanently or temporarily; and/or (iii) business, occupation, place of work or residence, or habitat adversely affected, with or without displacement.
Public Involvement / The dialogue encompassing consultation and communication between a project proponent and the public. It includes dissemination, solicitation and presentation of information.
Rehabilitation/
Resettlement / A term often used to describe the process of reestablishing lifestyles and livelihoods following resettlement. The term is also used to describe construction works that bring a deteriorated structure back to its original conditions.
Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) / A time-bound action plan with a budget, setting out resettlement strategy, objectives, options, entitlements, actions, approvals, responsibilities, monitoring and evaluation.
Social Impact / An effect (both positive and negative) on a social issue resulting from development projects.
Stakeholders / Those who have an interest in project development and who will be involved in the consultative process, and includes any individual or group affected by, or that believes it is affected by the project; and any individual or group that can plan a significant role in shaping or affecting the project, either positively or negatively, including the host community/ population.
Vulnerable Groups / Distinct groups of people who might suffer disproportionately from resettlement effects, including the poor, landless and semi-landless, female-headed, disabled and elderly households without means of support and those from minority groups.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project Background

Al Mokha 60 MW Wind Farm Project (MWFP) was initiated with the objectives of demonstrating the financial feasibility of wind power by implementing the first wind power development project in Yemen. MWFP is expected to add 60 MW of clean power to the national grid.

The target capacity of 60 MW will be met through introducing a number of Wind Turbines Generators (WTG) that will be located according to a favorable scenario that has been compared to two other scenarios. The proposed scenario is optimalin terms of energy production, sensitivity to habitat, aesthetic impacts and amount of waste generated during construction. The proposed scenario will involve the installation of 30 WTGs each of 2 MW capacities with hub height of 78m. The other project components will include internal roads, an input portal, an overhead 132 Kv power line and internal cabling.

The proposed location of MWFP is located on the coastal area in the western part of Yemen, around 4 Km away from Al-Mokhain the vicinity of the existing Al-Mokha Thermal Power Plant. It will occupy an area of around 48m2.

MWFP is expected to have substantive positive impacts on the local communities in Al Mokha and the country at large. The positive impacts include creating job opportunities for Al Mokha residents both during construction and operation phases, improving the power provision to Al Mokha and the neighboring communities and assisting local communities in attaining several advantages in the form of enhanced access to market and better income earning opportunities.

The field visits and surveys carried out in the project site showed that there are 93households with a total population of 339 individuals who are originally Bedouin nomadswho have settled in this area for more that 20 years. Village residents juggle a number of activities that are characterized by being marginal, fragile and poorly rewarding with the main objective of making a daily living. The communities’ main activities involve fishing, driving, grazing animals and collecting firewood.

These communities are mainly composed of three villages, namely, Al Holeiby, Seriga, andAl Oksh.. They are under the administrative arrangements of Al Mashalha, Al Mokha Districts.Like many other rural areas in Yemen, the role of traditional institutions in resolving disputes through mediation, customary tribal arbitration, and mutual accord is important in Al Mokha. Most disputes in Yemen are originated from water right and land ownership. Customary laws in tribal areas are strong and effectivein resolving rural land disputes. Traditional institutions have played and continueto play important role inaddressing the rural land needs of public benefits projects in Yemen.It is anticipated that the traditional structure in Al Mohka project area will play similar role in resolving issues that might arise between the project and communities.

From the preliminary survey and field observation, it is predicted that MWFP operations willnot result in major land acquisition. There will not be physical displacement that will be caused by the project and that will require relocating and resettling people.

However, if for unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances the project requires land acquisition and negatively impacted livelihoods, the policy principles and objectives stated in this RPF will be applied. In the case of dispute between the project and local community, the Yemeni customary law,deemed consistent with OP 4.12 if properly documented, will be used. Existing traditional conflict resolution mechanism will be activated and will be deployed to resolve disputes. Capacity building support will be provided by the project.

Main National Legislation that Regulates Land Expropriation

The key Yemeni legislation that deals with land related issues are: the National Constitution;the Civil Law; Law no. 21 of 1995 concerning State Land and Real Estate; the Republican Decree 170 of 1996;Waqf Law no. 23 of 1992;the Republican Decree 99 of 1996; Law no. 21 of 1995 concerning State Land and Real Estate and; Law no. 1 of 1995 concerning the Public Eminent Domain Law.

Under Yemeni legislation, land could be classified as: (a) privately-owned land, (b) state-owned or government land, (c) communal land, (d)endowment/ waqf land:agriculture land, (e) land for neighborhood rights, (g) squatters occupied land. The Legislation includes several provisions that regulate the process of declaring land plots for public interest, the provisions for expropriation and compensation; and the definition of rights of owners and use of communal property.

Land acquisition is regulated bythe Public Eminent DomainLaw no. 1 of 1995 which aims at locating and identifying StateLands and Estates and establishing plans that identify such lands, and protect and maintain them against any kind of aggression. According to Article 1 of this law, ministries, authorities and general intuitions may carry out acquisitions for the public interest when justified by necessity,in return for fair compensation. Article 2 of the same law states the definition of “Projects of Public Interest.”

The maininstitutions responsible for land-related issues are the General Authority for Land Survey and Urban Planning (GALSUP) through the Land Department, Planning Department, Notary Public Department and the Control and Inspection Department. The Ministry of Public Works and Highways (MoPWH), the Ministry of Finance (MoF) as well as the Local Councilswhich also plays an institutional role in regulating land issues.

Moreover, under Articles 18 to 20 of the Law of State Lands Real Estates, the Minister of Justice establishes a permanent or temporary EC in every governorate, or for each individual case that comprises a judge, who takes the role of chairman, an engineer, a representative of the expropriating authority, and the owner(s) of the expropriated real estate or their representative. The EC role is to consider the various pieces of legislation related to land acquisition and rights of squatters on public land while making compensation for involuntary settlement.

There are several challenges related to land ownership and institutional capacities in Yemen that could be summarized as follows:

Land ownership issues are complex in Yemen, and are beyond the scope of a MWFP to resolve.

The practical application of the law confronts many challenges including the growing confusion over communal land and privately-owned land and the trend of increasing private appropriation of communal land.

There is little public confidence in the Land Registry, mainly in the rural areas.

The overlapping responsibilities and the bureaucratic procedures of the various concerned institutions lead to delayed responses to the affected persons.

Law enforcement holds many challenges and the judicial system also exhibits some weaknesses.

World Bank Safeguard Policies on Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.12)

Involuntary Resettlement (IR) resulting from development projects will, if unmitigated, give rise to difficult economic, social, and environmental risks that may lead to a variety of unacceptable impacts including dismantling of production systems, impoverishment of people, relocation of displaced persons to environments that do not suit their skills, weakening of community institutions and social networks, dispersion of extended families and kin groups and loss of cultural identity. However, well-designed resettlement programs may represent good development opportunities. WB OP 4.12 is a road map for the identification, preparation, and implementation of Bank-funded programs with a focus on minimizing negative social and economic impacts on individuals and communities.

The overall objective of OP 4.12 is to avoid IR where feasible by exploring alternatives. If IR is unavoidable, resettlement activities should be conceived and executed as sustainable development programs where displaced persons should be meaningfullyconsulted.Resettlement programs should work to improve the livelihoods of the Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

The policy covers the direct economic and social impacts that result from Bank-assisted projects and are caused by the involuntary taking of land resulting in relocation or loss of shelter, loss of or access to productive assets, or loss of sources of income or means of livelihood, whether or not the affected persons must move to another location; or, the involuntary restriction of access to legally designated parks and protected areas resulting in adverse impacts on the livelihoods of the displaced persons.

Potential Impacts

Generic short and long term environmental and socio-economic impacts potentially occurring from involuntary resettlement include:

Disruption of production and income generation both on temporary and permanent bases;
Loss of land or other assets;
Affecting the incomes of local communities by introducing new income generations opportunities which are not suitable to the local skills;
Weakening of community and social fabric and networks;
Dispersion of family and kinship groups; and
Loss of cultural identity and traditional authority.

Under MWFP, the above impacts are not predicted to be encountered by local communities. However, temporary impacts associated to the construction phase including physical works will occur. These will be mitigated through measures described in the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP).

Purpose and Key Elements of the RPF

The purpose of this RPF is to establish resettlement objectives, principles, organizational arrangements, overall design of the resettlement program, and funding mechanisms for any resettlement operation that may be necessary during the MWFP preparation and implementation phases.

When the precise location and exact extent of land acquisition by MWFP becomes known during the implementation phase, site specific Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) or Abbreviated Resettlement Plans (ARPs) should be prepared, depending on the scale and severity of impacts. The resettlement process should be finalized prior to the commencement of any physical works.

If the need arises to resettle PAPs, the resettlement process will follow the principles outlined in this RPF and shall take the social context into account and adapt it to local conditions. This RPF along with the suitable resettlement instrument will be used for establishing appropriate mechanisms that will be specifically tailored to deal with resettlement problems that might arise as a result of MWFP.