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The Royal Cambodian Railway is already operational offering several services including passenger accommodation going to different destinations of Cambodia.  In fact, large numbers of people who ride the train are tourist going to Sihanoukville, 221.7 km away from Phnom Penh.  The place known as Krong Preah Sihanouk and is popular for its beaches, tropical islands and the mangrove jungles of Ream National Park. However, more than 4000 families are still in dire condition due to the lack of compensation that was given to them by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government.  A large number of families are now in so much debt that they have resulted to mortgage their relocation homes even without the presence of the land title.  An immobile resident from Poipet, a relocation site 411.3 km from Phnom Penh, near the borders of Cambodia and Thailand depressingly narrated how she is now asking/waiting for scraps of food from her neighbors because she can no longer support herself.  Invalid from the waist down, alone and without any support from her family she compared her situation before she went to the relocation site, according to her “at least when I was in my old place, I can grow vegetable, corn, root crops and that would be enough for me to survive.  The next day I do the same because I get by…”. This is not a new story for most people in the relocation site, aside from problems that go with the territory of being relocated like access to transportation, job availability or another source of income and livelihood, electricity and clean drinking water, what makes the Cambodian affected families “unique” is that they are indebted to different lending agencies and even persons.  Some families even took a second mortgage to pay off the first mortgage, until it has become a vicious cycle.  Also, the presence of informal lenders, who let the affected families borrow money using the resettlement plot as collateral makes the situation even more complicated.  This resulted in the call of the people regarding the government promise of granting the ‘land title’ after 5 years of living in the resettlement site.  A community leader from one of the resettlement site said that it has been due since 2013 because they have been living there since 2007, but four years have passed there is still no word on the land title.  He even claimed that on their part they have followed up diligently to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) regarding the matter but they were not addressed properly, worst they feel that their grievance is being ignored. A father of three who’s only source of income is driving a cab around the city barely makes 100,823 KHR (about 25$) a day, and he has to pay 100,823 KHR (250$) a month for his 24,197,500 KHR (roughly 6000$), the same story goes with the woman who has roughly 4000$ and has to pay the 200$ a month, her source of income is making rags, that sells 2,016.45 KHR (50¢) a piece. In a day they can make between 50 to 60 pieces that are if they will work none stop for 12 hours. The loan situation is so alarming that VisionFund Cambodia – supported by the Government of Australia – has implemented a program to help ease the loan problems of the families in the 5-resettlement sites.  But VisionFund has terminated its program and will end it this year (2016). VisionFund Cambodia found out that the most affected households do not meet the requirements or eligibility criteria to participate in the program. The eligibility criteria include- Adequate income earnings to be able to repay the monthly installments Continuous residence in the resettlement site Indebtedness level which should not be too high so that debt workout can be achieved within the financial envelope and the The willingness of informal lenders to sign off the agreement. When the affected families were asked on how to address or solve their dreadful situation, they humbly asked the government of Cambodia and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help them in any way they can.  A community leader and a mother of 4 added that they “comply with the recommendation of the government, the ADB, and the Australian Aid to relocate because they were promised that their lives would be better” and these are agencies which they trust initially, but after years of struggle and making ends meet they are too tired in doing the same thing over and over again.  And they are even more afraid that their children, grandchildren would encounter the same.  As a matter of fact, most youths in the relocation sites has stopped their education taking on the responsibilities of putting food on the table.

Frankfurt, Germany –Deafening silence rose when leader of project-affected communities, Sim Pov raised his community’s issues on the US $ 42 million loan to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Cambodia Railway Rehabilitation Project.  The project aims to restore Cambodia’s railway infrastructure by rehabilitating existing railway tracks and associated structures, reconstructing the destroyed railway line to Thailand. Sim Pov brought a sample of the murky water from the Battambang resettlement site and handed it to President Nakao during a dialogue with civil society organizations on the 49th Annual Governors Meeting being held in Frankfurt. The community leader and high school teacher asked the President to help the 4,000 displaced families living in dire conditions due to poor compliance on safeguards measures on involuntary resettlement issues. In November 2011, ADB received a complaint on failure to comply with adequate compensation and restoration of livelihood. Displaced families waited for years to be receive compensation for lost properties that were heavily undervalued forcing them to take debts in order to survive. They were placed in inhabitable resettlement areas far from employment opportunities, access to clean water and near dump sites exposing them to health risks. “What do you think if your family has to live with this kind of water?”  Sim Pov raises the bottled water containing dirty water during the CSO dialogue with Nakao. He and his family would drink the water he took from the resettlement site. He closed his query by saying that “I strongly believe that Mr. President with your leadership you will take immediate action to address our urgent situation”. The complaint filed by the communities triggered a safeguards review to which a Compliance Review Panel, after a 17-month investigation, admitted that ADB committed errors in its due diligence processes. The Panel found that families affected by the Railway project “suffered loss of property, livelihoods, and incomes, and as a result have borne a disproportionate cost and burden of the development efforts funded by ADB.”  According to the Panel, ADB’s “inadequate attention to addressing the resettlement, public communications and disclosure requirements of its own policies…has led to significant yet avoidable adverse social impact on mostly poor and vulnerable people.”. The Panel issued clear recommendations to the ADB Management to comply with safeguard policies and address the issue. After six years, however, displaced families have found themselves unable to recover their way of life.  The livelihood restoration project based on a debt refinancing scheme managed by Vision Fund failed to restore the economic status of affected communities as it only covered 35 families. Families, however, were unable to pay due to many factors that were compounded by poor compensation schemes. A displaced family merely receives US$25 a month as compensation. The Safeguard Policy Statement requires compensation for lost assets and loss of income and livelihood, decent relocation, restoration of livelihood such that displaced families’ economic and social future will generally be at least as favorable with the project as without it, provided with appropriate land, housing, infrastructure, and other compensation, comparable to the without-project situation and full disclosure to resettlement and compensation options. The complaint and the current economic and social status of project-affected families tell a glaring picture of gross implementation of ADB projects without careful planning and disregard to safeguard measures. In the same dialogue, the NGO Forum on ADB, a network of 250 civil society organizations raised the possible rise in displacements, human rights violations especially of vulnerable sectors brought by a strong focus on large scale infrastructure projects in ADB and in other multilateral development banks (MDBs). ADB has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the new Chinese-led multilateral development bank, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank whose draft safeguard policy was deemed to be inadequate and dangerous by many CSOs.

Good Morning Mr. President. Thank you for making time to sit with civil society in this year’s 49th AGM as you have done so in the past with us -- the NGO Forum on ADB -- an independent network of 250 civil society organizations of grassroots organizations, social movements, and affected communities across South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and caucuses in Australia, Europe, and the USA committed to holding the ADB accountable since 1992. We are witnessing the unprecedented flow and focus of private capital from among the Banks for infrastructure development. Large-scale infrastructure projects if developed without careful attention to impacts on the environment, economies and communities carry severe risks of mass impoverishment, permanent loss of livelihoods, violent conflict, and human rights violations, as well as irreversible environmental damage. This includes the destruction of forests, biodiversity, coastal areas and river systems, as well as massive greenhouse gas emissions. This causes irreparable harm to women, children, persons with disabilities in the vulnerable communities, including indigenous peoples and burden taxpayers into unsustainable debt payments. And yet, here we are, hearing the same approach that has put the Asian region in a situation more precarious than 49 years ago Nearly 750 million people in the region still survive on less than $1.25 a day while income inequality has risen more than 20% in the last 20 years. Despite the overbearing presence of the private sector in the delivery of public goods and services, lower-income groups have inadequate access to basic services in health care, education, or safe drinking water and sanitation. We have also crossed four of the nine planetary boundaries: deforestation; the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; and the flow of nitrogen and phosphorous. IPCC figures show that we have crossed 390 limits to over 400 parts per million volume of CO2 – a level which has not happened in 650,000 years but happened in the last 50 years.  And yet, ADB continues to fund coal power and build mega infrastructure against the wishes of the people to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. Forum witnessed the displacement of 58,301 families as a result of ADB’s large-scale infrastructure projects in 13 countries from 2010-2016 alone.  Furthermore, we are aghast that the ADB has yet to comply with Core Labor Standards leading to violations of workers’ rights in the very projects believed to be reducing poverty in the region. The increasing use of opaque, private and ungoverned funds  supports the current economic architecture that brought us in the first place to pervasive poverty, rising inequality, economic and environmental crisis. Private capital led infrastructure development merely financed the connectivity and energy needs of global supply chains and not poor peoples whose needs are irrigations, schools, affordable houses or basic bridges needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Our Network was born in the wake of mass poverty, unemployment and loss of livelihood, social unrest, and human rights violations brought by displacements from the building of large dams, trains, highways, and ports -- owned by private capital on previously public domains.  The communities suffered from this approach that was replete with risks to people and the environment and yet the Bank is treading the same path in greater levels. That this is happening in a ground reality of an increasingly limited space for civil society in our regions should compel us to rethink how truly close we are in achieving inclusive development especially in borrowing states with severed democracies such as Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Laos, among others. Thus, we thank you, Mr. President, for providing us with this critical space to raise our immediate concerns: ADB SPS 2010 delivery is still in question and we are still yet to see institutional reform which ensures ADB Safeguard staff to be on the ground throughout the project cycle to ensure ADBSPS2010 compliance. Do note Mr. President we recognize that the ADB SPS 2010 arguably remains the torch bearer on binding requirements on environmental and social safeguards among all the MDBs on paper. Thus, will you Mr. President pledge that there will be NO DILUTION of the ADB SPS 2010? We continue to observe that ADBs is shifting more and more of its lending to private sector operations and actors. On the issue of ADB SPS 2010, the provision of self-reporting by the private sector and FIs has failed to ensure delivery on the ground. We demand the ADB apply the equal requirements and institutional response on ADB SPS2010 to all private sector lending projects. There must be ADB permanent Safeguard specialists on all ADB project sites to ensure safeguards of communities and the environment. In light of 1.5-degree consensus in COP 21, we urge the ADB Stop lending any and all forms of Coal Power Plant Projects. We urge the ADB to recognize its MOU with ILO on the CLS and demand that the ADB include CLS in all levels of its Operations. Delivered by Mr. Rayyan Hassan, Executive Director - NGO Forum on ADB, May 1, 2016.

Know the tale of the Bagkut Crab from Marinduque. #MarcopperDisaster #Mining #Marinduque #Philippines

The year was 1969, Marcopper Mining Corporation (MMC) began their mining operation in Marinduque, Philippines. With a $40-million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Placer Dome, Inc., promising 30,000 tons of run-of-mine output per day. Placer Dome, which is 40% owner of MMC, secured and guaranteed the loans from the ADB. During its operation, the Marinduqueños experienced a series of environmental mining-related disasters.​​ In spite of numerous actions made by local communities and non-government organizations (NGOs), and surviving cease-and-desist orders by the National Pollution Control Commission during the Martial Law, MCC continued its operation. It was later found out that 50% of the company was owned by the late president Ferdinand Marcos through four front companies. (Roja Salvador, 2001) Later on the ADB and Placer Dome agreed to transfer the bank’s interest to MR Holdings, Ltd., which is a company created by Placer based in the Cayman Islands. (Keith Damsell, May 1999) Around US$20 million was paid to the ADB. After the payment of the outstanding loan and return of the Covenant, the project documents at the Bank were no longer accessible. ADB stated that it is no longer involved in the project and the project is not covered by the 1994 Information Disclosure Policy. (James Esguerra, July 2003).​​ The ADB washed off its hands from the tragedy. AFFECTED COMMUNITIES Calancan Bay For 16 years, Marcopper dumped 200 million tons of mine tailings in Calancan Bay via surface disposal. This was done without the consent of the villagers whose main source of food and livelihood rely on the bay. The mine spill covered 80 square kilometers of the rich corals and sea grasses of the bay. This affected 2,000 fishing families, leaving them in the brink of starvation. (Catherine Coumans, 2005) Houses and rice fields were covered with dust storms. Mogpog River A dam was constructed in the Maguila-Guila Creek in 1991 inspite of the protests by the local communities because of its potential negative impact on their food source and water. The project aimed to hold back the contaminated silt from the San Antonio pit. After two years, the dam collapsed. Downstream villages were flooded, houses were swept away, livestock, poultry, and crops were destroyed. Two children were also swept by the flash flood. The collapse of the dam did not only cause contamination of the river but also eruption of skin diseases, plastic anemia and metal poisoning of the villagers. (Aguillon, 2004) Placer Dome denied its responsibility, blaming the tragedy to typhoon Lando. However, the rehabilitation of the dam included an overflow, which is in a way acknowledging that faulty engineering caused the disaster. (Coumans, 2005) Bagtuk, a specie of crab that people consume for subsistence, completely disappeared after the tragedy. Boac River Massive tailings spilled into the 26-km long Boac River in 1996. The river was contaminated with three to four million tons of metal enriched and acid generating tailings immediately after a badly-sealed drainage tunnel at the base of Tapian pit burst. This translated to around 1.6 million liters of waste that spilled into the river, killing the river instantly. This prompted a team from the United Nations to investigate the extent of the impact that the Marinduque Mine Spill, as what the tragedy has been called ever since, has caused the environment and the townsfolk. UN identified unacceptable levels of heavy metals in some parts of the river and toxic wastes leaching into the river due to faulty waste rock siltation of the dam. The Department of Health and the University of the Philippines (DOH-UP) the following year, 1997, conducted health studies and concluded heavy metal contamination due to the use of the river as run-off for Marcopper’s disposal site since the 1970s.(Aguillon, 2004) The DOH-UP investigative team found out unacceptable lead and mercury level in seven of the 22 children tested; two adults tested positive for lead contamination. They also collected blood, air and soil samples in and 7 km out from the causeway. All of the 59 children tested proved to have unacceptable levels in their blood; 25 percent of them had unacceptable blood cyanide levels. Also, the soil samples have unacceptable levels of lead, cadmium and elevated levels of copper and zinc. Lead values were present in the air samples, exceeding the standards of the US Environmental Protection Agency. (Aguillon, 2004) Placer Dome spent almost US$80 million for compensation, medical treatment, infrastructure development, river rehabilitation, flood risk assessment and water projects. However, it still maintains its position that it has no responsibility for the tragedies in Calancan Bay and Mogpog River, claiming these events as accidents. The people of Marinduque will forever be reminded of this tragedy and how the funder of the project bailed out on them when things starts crumbling down. Then we ask the question #isADBgoodorbad? References: Aguillon, Rowil. “Mining Debt: A Victim’s Point of View.” 1/31/04. (www.jubileesouth.org/journal/mining.htm) Coumans, Catherine, Ph.D. “Phillipine Province Files Suit Agains Placer Dome – Background.” 10/4/05. (www.miningwatch.ca) Esguerra, James. “Case Study Four: Marcopper Mining Corporation (Philippines).” ADB and the Environment: A Monitoring Framework for the ADB’s Environment Policy. PRRM, NGO Forum on ADB: Manila, 2003. Salvador, Roja. “Undermined.” Community & Habitat. Is. 9. PRRM: Manila. 2001. Photo credits to: http://miningwatch.ca/blog/2013/10/18/philippines-marinduque-pushed-wall-barrick-gold http://marinduquegov.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html http://globalnation.inquirer.net/118506/nevada-high-court-hears-marinduque-mine-disaster-lawsuit http://news.abs-cbn.com/image/nation/regions/03/24/16/20-years-after-marcopper-disaster

When the Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP), a project co-funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was proposed it was meant to “…alleviate the chronic water shortage in Kathmandu Valley on a sustainable, long-term basis”, but as of the moment what the project did was to promote social injustice, involuntary replacement and environmental problems. The MWSP was supposed to be an inter-basin river project that will divert 170 million liters of water per day from Melamchi River to Kathmandu through a 26.5-kilometer tunnel. Prior to the conception of the project, various studies showed that the MWSP is not necessarily the best option since there are several other options within Kathmandu Valley. The ADB and other donors have ignored these possibilities. According to Water expert Dipak Gyawali of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation with Kathmandu’s population growth rate, no river would be able to meet the water supply demand of its people. So why proceed with the project? 70% of the water in the mains is lost due to leakage from ageing pipes or pilferage. Gyawali stated that the problem is not so much the scarcity of water, but poor water management and wasteful distribution. The people of Kathmandu are now faced with the possibility of potable water that is very costly, the minute a foreign private operator or private management handles the water supply system. There is also the question of the public participation and consultation provision of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The lack of transparency and democratic process involved in the implementation of the road survey, land acquisition, compensation, resettlement, and the Social Upliftment Programme (SUP) was voiced out by the locals particularly the ethnic Tamang communities, who expressed their desire to participate in the SUP, and wishes it to be thoroughly discussed, designed and implemented with their FULL consent. The Indigenous tribe of Hyolmo also cried foul when the idea of relocation was discussed. The EIA of ADB and other concern financing agencies failed to study and incorporate all the environmental/ecological impacts of MWSP on the local ecology and people’s livelihoods. It is not environmentally sound. The construction of the tunnel in between the mountain will cause irreparable loss to the surrounding environment, disrupting its natural state. There is also the lack of adequate arrangement for the continuing access and management of affected forestland. MWSP also affects Melamchi’s agricultural system due to the construction of access roads through the most fertile land. Three problems arose from this part of the project: There is a loss of small and large-scale irrigation canals after the diversion of the river. A large portion of the farmlands has been affected by road construction and this impacted adversely food security, as well as the local ecology and biodiversity. Involuntary resettlements of the locals that has been grossly arbitrary. The project failed to provide adequate compensation and relocation. The program has failed to address the local needs, their priorities and the democratic process. Two of the most affected communities is the Tamang, that suffers from worsening social and economic conditions and cultural exploitation and the Majhi ethnic community whose primary livelihood is fishing. The MWSP has promoted social injustice; the project will benefit only 10 percent of country’s population, but all Nepalese will shoulder the burden of debt. #isADBgoodorbad? Sources: http://www.adb.org/projects/31624-023/main http://hyolmo.blogspot.com/2011/01/melamchi-water-supply-project-what-do.html http://www.bioline.org.br/request?er08012 http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2014-12-23/melamchis-tunnel-vision.html#commentWrapper http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-31/issue-1/regional-spotlight/nepal-moving-mountains-in-melamchi.html http://developmentdebacles.blogspot.com/2008/02/controversies-continue-to-plague.html Photos Credits to: http://kalikagroup.com/sites/default/files/gallery/kukl%20(2).jpg http://www.nepalmountainnews.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/road-digging-for-melamchi-p.jpg #Nepal #Melamchi #Water #Loan #Kathmandu #CoFinancing Written by Jen Derillo. Jen is NGO Forum on ADB's Program Coordinator for Communications.

Name of Project: PHULBARI COAL PROJECT Date of Construction: 2007 Location: Bangladesh Total Cost: $100 million Private Sector Loan; $200 million ADB Project Type: LOAN The Phulbari Coal Project would have been an open-pit coal mine in Bangladesh proposed by Asia Energy Corporation (the Bangladeshi subsidiary of GCM Resources, a company with coal interests in Bangladesh, South Africa, and China, as well as "uranium interests in West Africa, Sweden, and Australia) and will be partly funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project was said to include a 500-megawatt (MW) coal plant. Last 2007 a press conference hosted by ADB, with then country director Hua Du, expressed the ADB's eagerness for the quick decisions in favour of big Indian corporate giant; Tata's proposals related to gas and coal, and the British-based company Asia Energy's (AEC) Phulbari Coal Project (PCP). After the news went public, 70,000 people gathered in Phulbari on August 26, 2006, to express their protest against the proposed open-pit mining project. The event caused three persons to be killed and hundreds wounded because law enforcers opened fire on them as they were returning home from the protest rally. No open pit mining will be allowed anywhere in the country”Despite what happened more people took to the streets their protest regarding the possibilities of an open-pit coal mine. The violent actions of the law enforcers left twenty people wounded was the tipping point for the Bangalee, Adivasi (indigenous), women, men, senior and children who walked the streets and expressed their disagreement towards the ADB-financed projects due to historic social contract that stated that “ and that “Steps will be taken for development and utilisation of coal only after proper consultation with the people keeping national interest intact”. The mass uprising causes the government to enter into an agreement with the protestors represented by National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas Mineral Resources, Port and Power. The result was the cancellation of the Phulbari project because of environmental, economic and legal grounds. WHAT’S UP? ​​After the fierce resistance in 2007, a 2010 WikiLeaks cable revealed US diplomats were secretly pushing the Bangladeshi government to re-open plans for the mine since Asia Energy, the company behind the Phulbari project, has sixty percent U.S. investment. And upon checking the GCM Website back in 2011, the company stated that it is awaiting approval of the project. Is the Phulbari Coal Project really over? Or is it a dormant problem waiting to happen? #isADBgoodorbad? SOURCES: http://www.adb.org/projects/documents/phulbari-coal-project-seia http://www.countercurrents.org/muhammad190507.htm http://www.ghd.com/global/projects/phulbari/ http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Phulbari_Coal_Project#cite_note-GCM-4 http://www.gcmplc.com/our-business http://www.bankinformationcenter.org/feature/phulbari-coal-project/ Photo Credits to: http://www.accountabilitycounsel.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/demo-against-GCM-2.jpg http://www.accountabilitycounsel.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Anha-F-Khan.jpg #ADB #AsianDevelopmentBank #Safeguards #Phulbari #OpenPitCoalMine #Mining #Bangladesh

In 2005 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) began negotiations with the Cambodian Government to restore the nearly unusable railway line, the project CAM: GMS Rehabilitation of the Railway Cambodia sounded promising, BUT there is a catch, it will be and has to be privatized. ​​This is a little confusing since the primary goal of the project is to be an economic driver for Cambodia where the poor will benefit. Sharing this supposed ‘humanitarian’ objective is the Australian Government, through AusAID, but just like many foreign-funded projects it did not break the endless cycle of poverty, or aid the poor. Instead, it created additional difficulty into an already problematic situation. How? For starters, the railway rehabilitation project has impacted approximately 18,000 people along 642 kilometers of tracks, this is according to Sim Virak, a representative of the Phnom Penh families during his interview with Hello VOA. At least 1,200 families, or about 5,160 people, were required to resettle while others lost portions of their land, homes and shops that was affected by the tracks. The land that was taken from the families to give way to the railway rehabilitation projects was used to grow produce and put food on the table of Cambodian families. The Cambodian Food Security Atlas stated that an average Cambodian plot is 1.5 Ha but 40% of households subsist on less than 0.5Ha whilst landlessness continues to increase due to displacement, to which the railway rehabilitation has contributed. There was a clear violation of the human rights. According to Eang Vuthy, Executive Director of Equitable Cambodia, families have not been fairly compensated under ADB policies. The choice of relocation sites for the affected family was at the Trapeang Anhchanh,​​ in Dangkao district, near the border of Kompong Speu, and just like most relocation site it is labeled as a ‘dead spot’, facilities and services remain rudimentary, livelihood options are limited, and transport links to the city are infrequent and expensive. And this area is 20 kilometers away from the city! In May 2010 it went ugly, Hut Holub, aged 9, and his older sister, Hut Heap, aged 13, went looking for water and drowned in a deep pond in one of the relocation sites. Their family was relocated from Battambang along with 52 other families. The site was without running water and electricity, Sok Choeun, the father of the two stated bitterly that this could have been avoided if they had enough food and clean water. The use of coercive arms of the state, such as the police, the army and the gendarme towards its citizens to execute a foreign project is also a clear violation of the citizens right. Lastly, ADB acknowledged its own shortcomings about the project particularly the displacement of local residents affected by forced resettlements, insufficient compensations, and neglect of their human rights. In fact, the ADB’s internal watchdog, the Compliance Review Panel (CRP) wrote that most of the families affected by resettlement are worse off now than before the move. It is an unadulterated disclosure that one of the country’s largest development partners failed to uphold its own safeguards. #isadbgoodorbad? Sources: http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/tag/trapeang-anhchanh/ http://www.adb.org/projects/37269-013/main#project-pds http://www.aidwatch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CambodiaReport-WEB.pdf http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/an-report-finds-cambodian-rail-repairs-have-left-thousands-of-f/5249094 http://www.voacambodia.com/content/families-file-new-complaint-under-adb-railway-project/2966131.html https://www.devex.com/news/adb-admits-mistakes-over-controversial-railway-project-in-cambodia-82809 Photo Credits to: http://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/advancing-extra-territorial-human-rights-obligations/railway/ #ADB #CAMGMSRehabilitationoftheRailwayinCambodia #Safeguards #EangVuthy #Cambodia #AsianDevelopmentBank Written by Jen Derillo. Jen is NGO Forum on ADB's Program Coordinator for Communications.

Name of Project:  MUNDRA ULTRA MEGA POWER PROJECT (UMPP) Date of Construction:  2007 Location: Gujarat, India Total Cost: US$4,140 million Status: OPERATIONAL ​​They say it’s a small price to pay for a new era of cheap energy to drive India’s growing economy. They say that it will fulfill the call 'Power for all' in India.  They say that Tata Mundra would be the pioneer of low-cost energy for the country.  Most of all it was supposed to be an energy-efficient, coal-based thermal power plant, so they say. Let us put a face to this small price to pay claim, which includes: Displacement of villagers, loss farmland & access to communal grazing land, and families from the 3 communities who have to give up their homes to give way to the location to where the mega plant was built. But the people behind the mega plant described these losses, as “marginal” considering the benefits that power plant will give the country.  This is human rights violation. Forcibly evicting people from their homes in lieu of ‘something better’?  Though the villagers were not ‘forcibly’ evicted, it is as if they were given any other choice. The displacement of Waghers (a Muslim minority whose history on the coastline where the power plant was built dates back 200 years).  Though they only live in makeshift houses, the area where they lived in is also where they conduct their means of living; traditional fishing. The warm water discharged by the mega plant has driven fish away from the intertidal zone.  It also destroys mangroves that act as a breeding ground for fish and a natural barrier against cyclones.  This affects the economic state of the people from the villages around the mega plant.  Before the mega plant came to be, in one day, the fisher folks used to catch three times as much fish, as soon as the mega plant operated the catch has lowered incredibly that they have to have the same catch for 7 days. Ashes falling from the sky that settles on fish left out to dry, rendering them inedible. There was a definite increase in the respiratory problems of people living in the area, the elderly are the worst affected.  Children are also not exempted there is a 20% rise in severe respiratory diseases in the villages near Tata Mundra mega power plant. The coal dust and fly ash are putting the lives of people, animals and horticulture at risk. Based on Ernst and Young, the estimated baseline CO2 emissions and reductions for the Project would be 30.796 million tons per year (baseline value) and 29.293 million tons per year, which would make it India’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.  The people around the area are stating that they are forced to adapt to the change in climate (no pun intended), in the morning and at night, steam coming from the outfall channel, the area around the mega plant is described as ‘always warm’, which is of course, not natural. Lastly, Tata Mundra Power Plant has failed the assessment of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO),  various assessments had failed to adequately consider the Wagher people or the plant’s potential impact. Then we ask, is it really a small price to pay?  The struggle with Tata Mundra Mega Power Plant is not exclusively happening in Gujarat, India alone, this is a struggle experienced by almost all poor countries who see's the intervention of international financial institutions like ADB as a way towards development. #isadbgoodorbad? Sources: http://www.adb.org/projects/41946-014/main#project-pds http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/16/why-the-mundra-power-plant-has-given-tata-a-mega-headache http://www.tatapower.com/cgpl-mundra/home.aspx http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=16026 http://www.bankinformationcenter.org/feature/tata-mundra-power-plant/ http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/worldbank-evicted-abandoned/india-uncounted http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/world-bank-lawsuit_n_7130130.html Photo credits to http://www.sierraclub.org/international/tata-mundra (Photo courtesy of Joe Athialy

​​They say it’s a small price to pay for a new era of cheap energy to drive India’s growing economy. They say that it will fulfill the call 'Power for all' in India. They say that Tata Mundra would be the pioneer of low-cost energy for the country. Most of all it was supposed to be an energy-efficient, coal-based thermal power plant, so they say. Let us put a face to this small price to pay claim, which includes: Displacement of villagers, loss farmland & access to communal grazing land, and families from the 3 communities who have to give up their homes to give way to the location to where the mega plant was built. But the people behind the mega plant described these losses, as “marginal” considering the benefits that power plant will give the country. This is human rights violation. Forcibly evicting people from their homes in lieu of ‘something better’? Though the villagers were not ‘forcibly’ evicted, it is as if they were given any other choice. The displacement of Waghers (a Muslim minority whose history on the coastline where the power plant was built dates back 200 years). Though they only live in makeshift houses, the area where they lived in is also where they conduct their means of living; traditional fishing. The warm water discharged by the mega plant has driven fish away from the intertidal zone. It also destroys mangroves that act as a breeding ground for fish and a natural barrier against cyclones. This affects the economic state of the people from the villages around the mega plant. Before the mega plant came to be, in one day, the fisher folks used to catch three times as much fish, as soon as the mega plant operated the catch has lowered incredibly that they have to have the same catch for 7 days. Ashes falling from the sky that settles on fish left out to dry, rendering them inedible. There was a definite increase in the respiratory problems of people living in the area, the elderly are the worst affected. Children are also not exempted there is a 20% rise in severe respiratory diseases in the villages near Tata Mundra mega power plant. The coal dust and fly ash are putting the lives of people, animals and horticulture at risk. Based on Ernst and Young, the estimated baseline CO2 emissions and reductions for the Project would be 30.796 million tons per year (baseline value) and 29.293 million tons per year, which would make it India’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. The people around the area are stating that they are forced to adapt to the change in climate (no pun intended), in the morning and at night, steam coming from the outfall channel, the area around the mega plant is described as ‘always warm’, which is of course, not natural. Lastly, Tata Mundra Power Plant has failed the assessment of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), various assessments had failed to adequately consider the Wagher people or the plant’s potential impact. Then we ask, is it really a small price to pay? The struggle with Tata Mundra Mega Power Plant is not exclusively happening in Gujarat, India alone, this is a struggle experienced by almost all poor countries who see's the intervention of international financial institutions like ADB as a way towards development. #isadbgoodorbad? Sources: http://www.adb.org/projects/41946-014/main#project-pds http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/apr/16/why-the-mundra-power-plant-has-given-tata-a-mega-headache http://www.tatapower.com/cgpl-mundra/home.aspx http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=16026 http://www.bankinformationcenter.org/feature/tata-mundra-power-plant/ http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/worldbank-evicted-abandoned/india-uncounted http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/world-bank-lawsuit_n_7130130.html Photo credits to http://www.sierraclub.org/international/tata-mundra (Photo courtesy of Joe Athialy #TataMundra #Gujarat #India #ADB #AsianDevelopmentBank #Safeguards Written by Jen Derillo. Jen is NGO Forum on ADB's Program Coordinator for Communications.

By Tea Soentoro This is the second of a two-part story of Ming Chhin’s struggle to get her life back after being involuntary displaced by an ADB funded Highway One Project in Cambodia [1]. MANILA, PHILIPPINES, 22 Feb 11 — With a promise of better life through the new Highway One Road project funded by the Asian Development Bank, Ming Chhin and her neighbors are still waiting. Though Ming Chhin has received compensation amounting to US$1,700, it was not enough to make their lives better off. Ming Chhin continued her story, “We had to fight hard to get our lives back. Before the project came into our lives, we had peaceful lives, we had jobs, we had stores, we had our homes, we lived close to our neighbors, we had an enjoyable community life. Now, we have to fight that the Project should keep the that promise [of better life].” To get their lives back, Ming Chhin together with 63 other families of Stung Slot and Kraing Khok communities of Prey Veng province submitted a complaint to the Office of Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) of ADB Accountability Mechanism in July 2007. The OSPF declared their complaint eligible[2] and in its Review and Assessment Report (RAR) dated 24 October 2007, it subsumed its findings in two issues: land title and impoverishment[3]. Moreover, Ming Chhin and members of their communities also talked directly to ADB about their problems. “I went to meetings to tell ADB about our problems; at the ADB Annual Governors’ Meeting in Kyoto and visited ADB office in Manila. We were supported by NGOs to meet ADB people to raise our problems. We also demanded from them to give us land title for security, solve our debt problem which arose because of the delay in compensation. They should help us restore our livelihood means which we lost because of the Highway 1 Road project. We wanted our lives and community back,” Chhin said. End of 2009, Ming Chhin finally received the news about ADB’s income restoration program which aims to helping affected communities to deal with their accumulated debt burdens and reestablish their livelihood activities. Chhin said she felt that ADB could finally fulfill its promise and her dream for a better life after years of hardships caused by the Highway One Road project. Acknowledging that involuntary resettlement for the Highway One Project had caused impoverishment and debt trap for the 63 families of Stung Slot and Kraing Khok communities, the ADB provided US$500,000 worth of grant for a Technical Assistance that would be implemented over 24 months from November 2009 to October 2011.[4] However, it is wrong to think that this TA would be solely for the restoration of the income and livelihoods of the affected communities. The TA is composed of two main components: (1) Improvement of social research and analysis skills for the executing agency of the project and other line ministry staff; and (2) Improvement of livelihoods of affected people in selected pilot communities. The latter will include: livelihood skills training, payment of debt to informal money lenders, access to credit by developing a community for seed funds.[5] Though this TA is a proof of the ADB’s acknowledgement of its failure to prevent the impoverishment of affected communities, the financing plan of this TA shows that only US $100,000 of the US$500,000 provided by ADB was allocated for the community seed fund; the per-diem of international consultant that implements the TA was allocated for US $150,000 and local consultant for US$64,000.[6] So whose income will actually be improved by this TA? In their modesty, affected people were grateful for the TA because they thought that their problem would finally be resolved. Ming Chhin was happy that her debt to local money lenders was paid. Also the debt of other families. For their survival, because the full compensation was four years late, they were forced to borrow money from money lenders with very high interest rates: 20% per month. The scary moment for her, and for others as well, was the time when the local creditors sued them before the local court because they could not pay them back. They were relieved that the court rejected the complaint, and ADB had paid their debt to money lenders. Ming Chhin borrowed US$300. At the end, debt reached US$1,625 due to interests. After 8 months since the start of the Income Restoration Program, Ming Chhin’s new hope of her life improving, faded slowly. “The process is very slow. Many times I think that we won’t get the money at all. If we ask when we will get the money, the community facilitator said that ADB doesn’t send the money to Cambodia yet. If they want to be involved in the discussion about the fund, they were rejected; if they complained, the community facilitators said that they have to go to the program leader. If this slow process continues, I am afraid that we will go back to borrowing from money lenders again because we don’t have any alternative.” Eleven years of promise, Ming Chhin and members of her community are still waiting. Ming Chhin was in Manila recently. She knocked on the doors of ADB Executive Directors asking for the promise of better life made by the ADB to her and members of her community. But it seems that Ming Chhin and her communities have to wait longer until ADB keeps its promise. Endnotes 1 Based on several interactions with Ming Chhin in Kyoto, San Pablo and Quezon City 2 ADB. Office of the Special Project Facilitator, Consultation Phase of the Accountability Mechanism, Annual Report 2009, p. 4-5, at: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Consultation-Accountability-Mechanism/ OSPF-annual-report-2009.pdf 3 ADB. June 2010, Final Report of the Special Project Facilitator on The Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City Highway Project in Cambodia ADB Loan 1659-Cam(Sf) (15 December 1998) (Complaint received 30 july 2007) at: http://www.adb.org/Documents/SPF-Reports/CAM/CAM-FinalReport.pdf 4 ADB, October 2009, Capacity Development Technical Assistance (CDTA), Kingdom of Cambodia: Capacity Development for Income Restoration Programs, p.3 at http://www.adb.org/Documents/TARs/CAM/43174- CAM-TAR.pdf 5 Ibid. Appendix 1, Matrix of Design and Monitoring Framework, p. 6 6 Ibid, Appendix 2, Cost Estimates and Financing Plan, p. 8.

By Nina Somera After two days of discussion, we finally arrived at the heart of the matter. Melamchi, a farming village in central Nepal emerged after we struggled through rugged terrains that were only softened by the neat tracts of wheat terraces, the bright yellow mustard fields, the unassuming brick houses and the humbling sight of women climbing the hills with dukos on their backs. The path to the house of a community leader, who would host us for the night, was likewise uneasy. With no source of light other than flashlights, we walked through the edge of the terraces. The house was Spartan. There were neither jalousies nor grills on the window, except for the three chambers that had no doors. In fact, as one-steps in, the foyer was immediately cut short by stairs that lead to another storey. A few more steps were a stable where the goats were already in the pasture of their dreams. On the right side were two chambers; the sleeping quarter reserved for us women and the other a hearth where the two women of the house were busy negotiating with the kiln for the strangers’ dinner. As soon as our tortured sit bones felt the velveteen bed covers, we were offered tin cans of black tea by one of the women. It was not until the morning after that we would fully grasp the ingenuity at the core of the house’s construction and the extraordinary labor behind a hearty meal and warm home. That evening we were served with Japanese rainbow trout that was delicately seasoned with herbs with pungent and citrus aromas, juicy stewed mutton and roasted potatoes that were coated in curry and other spices. Our host insisted that we have some fried rice wine, which I took as I start to Durga with the hay stocks. Shiver with the cool mountain breeze. While we relished the feast, our host parried our questions on the rough road we took and the proposed dam, both supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). How and when did you learn of the projects? Were there documents shown to you? Who communicated with you? What were the terms that were laid out? Have they been met? Basic questions that required basic answers. Though the latter are a little beyond yes or no, the answers were far from satisfactory, even degrading for a community that has taken what is just enough from the mountains, forests and streams and has given more for posterity in the midst of so-called backwardness. The road has been in the making for several years. But instead of cemented slopes and fixed drainage systems, bumpy rides around mountain ranges await any traveler. The road was also empty save for. In the course of finger-full bites, our host, who happens to be the head of the village, added that the community was largely unaware of such massive projects. And when it realized that the village’s river was to be drained in the name of Kathmandu’s development, the people remained in the dark of such undertaking’s impact on their families, homes, fields and livelihood. They never even knew that both the road and the dam were actually loans, until much later. They never met anyone from ADB to this day. When our host asked us if we would like to have rice, I politely declined pointing to my stomach, which was already full of gratifying dishes. As I excused myself and descended the stairs, I just felt the urge to wash. The coldness and darkness outside were not enough to keep me inside, especially after a four-hour journey from Dhulikel to Melamchi. A colleague immediately thought of bathing in the Melamchi River. But seeing its breadth while our bus traversed a ridge and unaware of its depth, I begged off and instead thought of the canals that irrigate the fields. Goma, one of the women led us to a field but the way was just too slippery. I feared that we might find ourselves sitting in the mud just after we washed. So we went towards another direction, farther from the house along a canal that was partially covered by banana fronds and two boulders. Trusting that only the full moon watched us, we undressed, letting the cold water and the cool breeze wash away the dust, sweat and soreness that until then coated our hair strands, skin and limbs. We never minded anymore what our very own traditional medicine says on the cataclysmic impact of hot and cold. We only hoped that we were not badly contaminating the fields, the fronds or the river where the water from the canals and streams eventually go. Although we felt much lighter on our way back to the house, none of us could match the agility of Goma. Like a bird who knew every perchable branch and solid ground in a forest, never did she show any neither awkward nor uncertain movement. Sure with every step, she looked back at us every now and then, lending her hand at some moments, pointing out with her foot the prickly outgrowth that must be avoided. The last to know. As we were about to retire, our host offered a plateful of rice and lentils, which Rima prepared while we were on our search for a stream. Again, we politely declined, adding that we were full; that we already brushed our teeth, and that we were about to sleep. But just two hours later, one colleague and I ventured outside, checked a basin that we previously filled with water and wild flowers for a full moon bath. Every now and then the host would emerge, telling us that we would not have any more security, as he was about to sleep. But we stayed on and even watched Goma leave for the mountain where she lives with her family. As in the fields, she was once again swift and sure, judging from the moving light — which could only be her flashlight — ascending behind the bushes and trees. Seeing how much she and Rima had done for us in the last several hours and recalling the many more women we encountered in different times and places, we could only wish that they were part of our ritual, when at the strike of midnight, as the full moon was directly above our heads, we undressed once more, splashing the cold and fragrant water. And like the witches millions of moons ago, we whispered our desires. In the morning, I woke up, sensing the busy movements in the kitchen. Goma and Rima were once the village, one with a sickle began clearing the ground of grass since the planting season was setting in. We tried to converse with her, despite our different languages. She even allowed me to try my hand at it. Meanwhile, another woman, whom we knew only as Durga was collecting hay from what we mistook as a house the night before. As we sat on those bundle of hays and showed her the pictures that I took, she held my hand. Then and there, from the deep furrows on her palm, I knew that hers were those who knew hard work quite well. Then just below the hill where the house stood were Goma and another woman meticulously weeding the potato field. During our brunch of porridge, potatoes and black tea, our host explained how the river has provided the building materials of his charming house. The stones that at first glance uniformly made up the walls were hardly fashioned to a specific cut. He said that he and some men just collected the stones that were more or less of the same size. Holes have been deliberately left especially in the kitchen as these serve as chimneys. Meanwhile, the mud that is layered every year cools the floor. The same mud smooth’s the unevenness of the walls, affecting a sturdy appeal. Wooden beams spaced by less than a foot buttress the upper storeys. At that time I understood why the house, especially the upper storeys, is better left without jalousies or grills. Every opening frames the perfect picture of the valley, the hill and the fields, all capturing the roaring sound of the river. Back at the ground floor, a free-range chicken was being dressed. Then in the kitchen, Goma was boiling some rice, scooping the excess water, which will be turned, into another dish. Rima, on the other hand was exerting all her might as she ground the chilies and other spices with stone. It did not take a while before lunch was served, this time with trout’s that were deep-fried in mustard oil, stewed chicken and seasoned potatoes. Conversations about the proposed road and dam continued. Asked what their demands were, should there be no way to stop the construction of the dam, the men from the village were straightforward and specific. First they wanted to know how the water would be discharged to have an idea of what the dam’s impact on their lives would be. But of course, if they had their way, they would not want any dam to be built, especially now that the water flowing through the Melamchi River is no longer as much as it used to be. The men also feared that once the dam spells dryness in the surrounding terraces and streams, disaster would soon strike women and girls with the lure of migration and sex trafficking. Moreover, the community remains out of the picture in the current project plans. While the village is being made to supply water and energy to the capital, there is no talk of directing even a bit of such resources to Melamchi. It is for this reason that, assuming the proposed dam pushes through, the community insists at least a 20 per cent cut from the revenues as a benefit-sharing scheme. But beyond these logical demands is a bigger aspiration that is founded on the rather unfair prioritization of the government. Our host remarked, why not transfer Coca-Cola and mineral water bottling companies and other industries in Melamchi and other provinces to decongest Kathmandu and somehow spur development in the countryside? Around this time, both Goma and Rima were beginning to breathe, with the tin plates and glasses now filed and the kitchen cleared. There were no more meals to be prepared in big servings. Only some sheets and mats to clean and stow away once the last guest steps out. So I chanced upon them and finally asking how they were, with the help of a translator. It was only this time when I learned that both are already mothers, whose children are in school, some of them in Kathmandu, where probably the best secondary schools are located. Their younger brood stays with them though, walking for at least an hour through the hills and mountains just to study.