Fair compensation and peasants’ rights buried under the road
By Svetlana Koshelekova and Maya Eralieva
ASTANA/BISHKEK, 20 Jul 10 -- "Many ordinary citizens are afraid to sue [the government] because they know that this is a losing option and is just a waste of health. But we can’t stop demanding for a Treaty on the land acquisition, even if we already have received compensation," said Putikova V.A. She is a resident of Bayzakskii district, Zhambyl region, Kazakhstan. According to her, even if she dares to defend her rights and sue the government for improper calculation of compensation of her land, it wouldn’t be possible for the simple reason that she does not have the full version of the Treaty and the assessment of aquired land.
This is not the only case in the area of the road project "Western China-Western Europe" funded by the Asian Development Bank. Violations of compensation became widespread in projects of the ADB and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The nature of the violations is just malicious. There are several dozens of such cases that can be counted and each case has its own specifics. In 80% cases of the survey, affected people neither have the Act assessment of land nor the Treaty between affected people and the Department of Roads. Peasants think that it is a normal situation since they have received at least some sort of information, though very late. Therefore, most of them don’t demand any documents.
Kalibek E., a resident of Bayzakskiy area, was also deprived from having an evaluation of the Act and the Land Treaty before he received compensation. He was able to receive those documents only three months later after receiving compensation and continuously writing demands. The road project divided his land into two plots. He didn’t see the draft, and didn’t know whether the water lines on his site were saved and if a flyover was ever constructed to transport agricultural equipment. As it turned out lately, the water system does not reach his land. Nothing may be planted in his land.
Abdrakhmanov M, a resident of Merkenskiy area, has a business: a roadside cafe and service. His case is now on trial. The valuation of his property had not included the toilet, gas pipeline and electric lines which he himself constructed The new road will be constructed far from his establishment. He lost his business entirely, while he has a standing loan of 10 million tenge. He must pay the bank more than 100,000 tenge per month.
The Auto Road Department (
ARD) did not even try to solve his problem. Sometimes they even laughed at the faces of affected communities. He has repeatedly addressed them about the issue, verbally and in writing, but the responses from the ARD had always been general. The Property Assessment Act, which was completed in 2008, was only handed to him in 2010 at his request. He then belatedly started to raise his concerns.
Another resident from Zhualinskiy district has the same problem. No Assessment Act and Treaty were provided. He has received 700,000 tenge (approx. USD 4,700) for his 13-hectare irrigated land. He has been in frequent contact with the ARD since autumn of 2009 but has not received any response to his concerns.
Since February 2010, they have all been trying to get the Property Assessment Act and the Treaty on land acquisition. They believe that the compensation was not correct. Citizen Putikova, who has been working as an economist and accountant for the past 30 years, said the assessment of her plot revealed basic arithmetic errors. She is ready for a recalculation even if the government will pay the lower amount, as long as it is fair. She also pointed out that several items were not included in the computation, such as wage and lost profits, in the half-page Assessment Act which she received from the ARD. Until now, mistakes in the calculation of the compensation has yet to be corrected.
According to an affected woman, she received the notice of redemption of her plot a year and three months ago. Unfortunately, she is still trying to understand the new lines or borders between the road and her plot . She was unable to plow and sow, and missed her deadlines, which has resulted in income loss. She could have begun weaning the plot much earlier before spring.
The study discovered that compensations for lands aquired with the same characteristics and level of productivity have been calculated in different ways. Landholders were not given full information. Each of them was forced to sign a blank sheet of paper that will serve as contract for compensation and accept the amount given.
In cases where peasants disagree with the amount of compensation and eventually raise the issue to the ARD, the latter sends them to the assessment team. After receiving the complaints, the assessment team will transfer money to them within one and a half months as additional compensation without a court order. This can be seen as a form of corruption. This also shows the intention of the team in poorly producing assessment under the resettlement policy. According to peasants, nobody from the Property Assessment Company visited the project site and assessment has been done in offices based on queries.
Affected people also r
aised the issue of their income tax either being included or excluded in the amount of compensation since they do not have copies of their respective contracts. Some people already started receiving notification that they are going to be charged for not paying taxes. The monitoring team tried to find any provisions in the Treaty. They only found the total amount of compensation, and not a single provision about tax payment. According to the ARD representative, land users must pay the tax themselves. The bank representative, knowing the policies and procedures of the ADB, quietly noted the need to raise this issue to the government. So far, they have not yet received any answer.
Another concern raised by civil society activists is the choice of ways to transfer the compensation. Representatives of ARD forced affected people to open accounts in the Joint Stock Company “Kazpost.” The ADB funded the project to upgrade the same Kazpost. This happened despite many land owners have their farm accounts. They have to open accounts in Kazpost and pay 1,500 tenge ($10). This amount was never reimbursed. Although according to a different source representative of the government, the new project director replied in a letter that the money to open accounts are paid from the budget. So what was the objective of ARD staff and what was the purpose of all these complex payment mechanisms?
Problems remain in the project and continue to grow. After all, the country's President demanded to complete the project by 2012. To achieve the target completion date, construction continues over the heads of ordinary citizens, human rights violations persist, standards set on mitigation measures to protect the environment are not met, and building materials for roads are obtained from nearby sites due to lack of permission documents.
As for compensation, affected people cannot find any answers to their questions. Lawyers accuse the ARD. The ARD in turn points to the Assessment Company; although there is a clear set of criteria for the selection of consultants and contractors, and the Resettlement Policy has a clear set of guidelines.
What is surprising is that as soon as local people begin to complain, appraisers call landowners and propose an amount four times bigger than the previously agreed amount for the latter to withdraw their complaints. Is this not a clear proof of corruption? It can be checked by simply calculating the figures.
There is a whole chain of violations which shows corruption:
1. The evaluation was incorrectly performed which does not include several points;
2. The Complete Assessment Act was not provided;
3. Treaties were not given to affected people;
4. People were forced to agree with the low amount of accrued compensation. They were threatened that cases will be filed against them in court if doing otherwise and were demanded to show patriotism in state programs; and
5. People were forced to accept the incorrect assessment and take suggested compensation.
While the bank's policy and information pamphlet say that these matters are resolved through negotiations, the ARD deliberately goes to trial, as the government declared that it will provide the lowest compensation for lands affected by the road project, which was an indirect indication of its intention. Therefore, landowners feel it’s useless to seek the truth in courts.
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Svetlana Koshelekova, leader of a monitoring group and representative of an affected community, believes that the resettlement plan was made with huge violations of rights of land owners, and with violation of time framework. Consultations held from 30-31 March 2010 on resettlement plan were carried out formally. However, brochures on the resettlement plan and the calculation of compensation were only handed out at these hearings, when most affected people had already received compensation. Such consultations should have been held prior the date of payment.
Despite accusations and pressure from the government, Koshelekova believes that as a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, she has every right to pursue monitoring of all government programs and does not need to be a qualified road contractor. "We are citizens of Kazakhstan. We are not against the road. The country needs this corridor but we want the road be built with quality, complying with ADB policies and social rights. We have to make sure that after two years of completion, the road wouldn’t have deteriorated because the project money were spent for other purposes. After all, we have to pay back the loan," said Koshelekova of NGO Taraz Press Club.
By Svetlana Koshelekova and Maya Eralieva
ASTANA/BISHKEK, 20 Jul 10 -- "Many ordinary citizens are afraid to sue [the government] because they know that this is a losing option and is just a waste of health. But we can’t stop demanding for a Treaty on the land acquisition, even if we already have received compensation," said Putikova V.A. She is a resident of Bayzakskii district, Zhambyl region, Kazakhstan. According to her, even if she dares to defend her rights and sue the government for improper calculation of compensation of her land, it wouldn’t be possible for the simple reason that she does not have the full version of the Treaty and the assessment of aquired land. This is not the only case in the area of the road project "Western China-Western Europe" funded by the Asian Development Bank. Violations of compensation became widespread in projects of the ADB and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The nature of the violations is just malicious. There are several dozens of such cases that can be counted and each case has its own specifics. In 80% cases of the survey, affected people neither have the Act assessment of land nor the Treaty between affected people and the Department of Roads. Peasants think that it is a normal situation since they have received at least some sort of information, though very late. Therefore, most of them don’t demand any documents.
Kalibek E., a resident of Bayzakskiy area, was also deprived from having an evaluation of the Act and the Land Treaty before he received compensation. He was able to receive those documents only three months later after receiving compensation and continuously writing demands. The road project divided his land into two plots. He didn’t see the draft, and didn’t know whether the water lines on his site were saved and if a flyover was ever constructed to transport agricultural equipment. As it turned out lately, the water system does not reach his land. Nothing may be planted in his land.
Abdrakhmanov M, a resident of Merkenskiy area, has a business: a roadside cafe and service. His case is now on trial. The valuation of his property had not included the toilet, gas pipeline and electric lines which he himself constructed The new road will be constructed far from his establishment. He lost his business entirely, while he has a standing loan of 10 million tenge. He must pay the bank more than 100,000 tenge per month.
The Auto Road Department (
ARD) did not even try to solve his problem. Sometimes they even laughed at the faces of affected communities. He has repeatedly addressed them about the issue, verbally and in writing, but the responses from the ARD had always been general. The Property Assessment Act, which was completed in 2008, was only handed to him in 2010 at his request. He then belatedly started to raise his concerns. Another resident from Zhualinskiy district has the same problem. No Assessment Act and Treaty were provided. He has received 700,000 tenge (approx. USD 4,700) for his 13-hectare irrigated land. He has been in frequent contact with the ARD since autumn of 2009 but has not received any response to his concerns.
Since February 2010, they have all been trying to get the Property Assessment Act and the Treaty on land acquisition. They believe that the compensation was not correct. Citizen Putikova, who has been working as an economist and accountant for the past 30 years, said the assessment of her plot revealed basic arithmetic errors. She is ready for a recalculation even if the government will pay the lower amount, as long as it is fair. She also pointed out that several items were not included in the computation, such as wage and lost profits, in the half-page Assessment Act which she received from the ARD. Until now, mistakes in the calculation of the compensation has yet to be corrected.
According to an affected woman, she received the notice of redemption of her plot a year and three months ago. Unfortunately, she is still trying to understand the new lines or borders between the road and her plot . She was unable to plow and sow, and missed her deadlines, which has resulted in income loss. She could have begun weaning the plot much earlier before spring.
The study discovered that compensations for lands aquired with the same characteristics and level of productivity have been calculated in different ways. Landholders were not given full information. Each of them was forced to sign a blank sheet of paper that will serve as contract for compensation and accept the amount given.
In cases where peasants disagree with the amount of compensation and eventually raise the issue to the ARD, the latter sends them to the assessment team. After receiving the complaints, the assessment team will transfer money to them within one and a half months as additional compensation without a court order. This can be seen as a form of corruption. This also shows the intention of the team in poorly producing assessment under the resettlement policy. According to peasants, nobody from the Property Assessment Company visited the project site and assessment has been done in offices based on queries.
Affected people also r
aised the issue of their income tax either being included or excluded in the amount of compensation since they do not have copies of their respective contracts. Some people already started receiving notification that they are going to be charged for not paying taxes. The monitoring team tried to find any provisions in the Treaty. They only found the total amount of compensation, and not a single provision about tax payment. According to the ARD representative, land users must pay the tax themselves. The bank representative, knowing the policies and procedures of the ADB, quietly noted the need to raise this issue to the government. So far, they have not yet received any answer. Another concern raised by civil society activists is the choice of ways to transfer the compensation. Representatives of ARD forced affected people to open accounts in the Joint Stock Company “Kazpost.” The ADB funded the project to upgrade the same Kazpost. This happened despite many land owners have their farm accounts. They have to open accounts in Kazpost and pay 1,500 tenge ($10). This amount was never reimbursed. Although according to a different source representative of the government, the new project director replied in a letter that the money to open accounts are paid from the budget. So what was the objective of ARD staff and what was the purpose of all these complex payment mechanisms?
Problems remain in the project and continue to grow. After all, the country's President demanded to complete the project by 2012. To achieve the target completion date, construction continues over the heads of ordinary citizens, human rights violations persist, standards set on mitigation measures to protect the environment are not met, and building materials for roads are obtained from nearby sites due to lack of permission documents.
As for compensation, affected people cannot find any answers to their questions. Lawyers accuse the ARD. The ARD in turn points to the Assessment Company; although there is a clear set of criteria for the selection of consultants and contractors, and the Resettlement Policy has a clear set of guidelines.
What is surprising is that as soon as local people begin to complain, appraisers call landowners and propose an amount four times bigger than the previously agreed amount for the latter to withdraw their complaints. Is this not a clear proof of corruption? It can be checked by simply calculating the figures.
There is a whole chain of violations which shows corruption:
1. The evaluation was incorrectly performed which does not include several points;
2. The Complete Assessment Act was not provided;
3. Treaties were not given to affected people;
4. People were forced to agree with the low amount of accrued compensation. They were threatened that cases will be filed against them in court if doing otherwise and were demanded to show patriotism in state programs; and
5. People were forced to accept the incorrect assessment and take suggested compensation.
While the bank's policy and information pamphlet say that these matters are resolved through negotiations, the ARD deliberately goes to trial, as the government declared that it will provide the lowest compensation for lands affected by the road project, which was an indirect indication of its intention. Therefore, landowners feel it’s useless to seek the truth in courts.
------------------------------
Svetlana Koshelekova, leader of a monitoring group and representative of an affected community, believes that the resettlement plan was made with huge violations of rights of land owners, and with violation of time framework. Consultations held from 30-31 March 2010 on resettlement plan were carried out formally. However, brochures on the resettlement plan and the calculation of compensation were only handed out at these hearings, when most affected people had already received compensation. Such consultations should have been held prior the date of payment. Despite accusations and pressure from the government, Koshelekova believes that as a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, she has every right to pursue monitoring of all government programs and does not need to be a qualified road contractor. "We are citizens of Kazakhstan. We are not against the road. The country needs this corridor but we want the road be built with quality, complying with ADB policies and social rights. We have to make sure that after two years of completion, the road wouldn’t have deteriorated because the project money were spent for other purposes. After all, we have to pay back the loan," said Koshelekova of NGO Taraz Press Club.
© 2008 NGO Forum on ADB. | Content may be used freely if source is acknowledged.