Resettlement Policy Framework & IESIA

Description

Alexandria is one of the oldest cities in the world. The city, with its 4 million inhabitants, is located on north western border of the Nile Delta. Its borders extend all along a coastal line whose length is estimated to be 70 km to the west north of the Delta. The Mediterranean borders Alexandria from the north. AI Beheira Governorate borders it from the south. Alexandria’s borders extend along 171 km on Alexandria-Cairo desert high way, to the east reaching Abu Qir Bay and ldku Lake, and to the west reaching El Hammam town till the kilo 60 on Alexandria- Matrouh highway.

Alexandria plays an important and a vital role in the Egyptian economy and cultural life since the oldest and biggest port is located in Alexandria. The bigger part of Egypt’s foreign trade passes through this port whose capacity is estimated to be 75% of the total capacity of Egypt’s ports on the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the fact that through this port the percentage of the ships passing represents 55% of the total number of ships incoming to the Egyptian ports on the Mediterranean. The city is considered a powerful industrial base since it includes 4417 industrial firms with a number of personnel estimated to be 201012 representing 17.3% of the total labour force of the city which is estimated to be 1161743 personnel. Alexandria’s production represents 40 % of Egypt’s total industrial production. There is a diversity of industries in the city. Among the most important industries are iron and steel, petroleum, cement, chemicals, petrochemicals, spinning and weaving, and fertilizers.

The key challenges facing Alexandria are:

• Generating more and better jobs.
• Improving the local business climate.
• Promoting better industrial zoning and planning.
• Providing basic services to all.
• Upgrading the ports of Alexandria and Dekheila.
• Strengthening the Textile & Garments sector.
• Strengthening the Food Processing sector.
• Developing the potential of the Petrochemical sector.
• Developing the potential of the Tourism sector

Serious sanitation and urban development problems such as a reliable water supply and sanitation system in Alexandria, inadequate infrastructure and urban services, and coupled with inadequate land policies have seriously affected the living and health conditions of the urban poor communities of Alexandria. Furthermore, the institutional setup urban and land use management is inadequate for improving the business environment conditions given the weak public-private-partnership prevailing for service delivery as a result of these challenges. For these reasons the World Bank and the Government of Egypt have co-financed the City Development Strategy of Alexandria.

The Alexandria Governorate, with the assistance of the World Bank (Cities Alliance Grant), has developed a strategic framework for sustainable development, namely the City Development Strategy (CDS). The strategy aims to develop a medium to long-term economic development strategy; to develop a participatory urban upgrading strategy for squatter settlements; and to develop a land use plan of the Lake Mariout area, within a sustainable urban development framework. The CDS forms the foundation of the Alexandria Growth Pole Project.

[…]

The overarching aim of the project is to strengthen Alexandria’s position as a growth pole in Egypt through strategic investments in hard and soft infrastructure that support its competitive advantages, which would contribute to removing constraints to private sector-led growth and improving the management and utilization of local assets, while ensuring the socio-economic integration of the poor. The project will enable Alexandria Governorate and its development partners from the public, private and civil society sectors to lay a first foundation towards achieving their commonly-defined long-term vision for Alexandria by implementing key investments of the City Development Strategy.

Specifically, the project development objectives are to: (i) support private sector development through removing key infrastructural and administrative constraints hindering its operation and growth; (ii) improve access of residents in informal and squatter settlements to infrastructure, basic services and income-enhancing opportunities; and (iii) build Alexandria Governorate’s economic development and utilization of local assets through pilot investments in environmental regeneration and land development.

The total investment costs of this project are US$ 130 Million, of which US$ 100 Million as an IBRD loan and 30 Million as a contribution from the Government of Egypt. The duration of the project is 5 years (2007-2012).

Resource: AGPP Executive Summary 

The Alexandria Growth Pole Project (AGPP) has four components:

• Component 1 – Priority Infrastructure to support Local Economic Development
• Component 2- lmproving the Local Investment Climate
• Component 3- Urban Uparading of Squatter and Informal Settlements
• Component 4- Institutional Development, Technical Support, and Project Operation Technical

As per the World Bank:

The objective of the environmental and social assessment is to examine the environmental, social, economic, physical, and biological impacts in the areas which may be affected by the project, and propose mitigation measures, as well as construction and operation environmental management and monitoring plans. Some adverse environmental issues expected to arise regard industrial effluents and sludge causing groundwater and water body pollution, health risks from discharging and reusing treated effluents in irrigation or fish farming, agriculture pollution, solid waste generation, disease transmission through infectious waste sharps and contaminated water, chemical and toxic threats through chemical and pharmaceutical exposure for medical centers, noise, dust, safety, odors, insects and increased incidence of waterborne diseases, excavation of potentially contaminated surface sediments, demolition leftovers, drainage canal clogging, damage to archaeological sites, and cross contamination to sewage and water lines. Among the social impacts that may arise are those concerning under representation of groups vulnerable to risks, inequitably distributed employment opportunities, and encroachment on private property. The report’s matrix of mitigation measures include the following: collecting and disposing of wastes; demolition and excavated materials at the landfill; restricting surface runoff; suppressing dust with water spraying and enclosures; banning on-site waste burning; limiting the hours of construction; analyzing the sediments pollution dredged from lakes and drains; drafting an employment plan ensuring access and training; maintaining ditches; developing resettlement plans if needed; using chance finds procedures; carefully selecting sites; effluent treatment to control quality; adhering to sludge disposal plan; cover equipment and areas likely to cause odors as well as vehicles transporting sludge; monitoring parasites and educating residents and government about disease control; monitor groundwater quality; dispose of solid wastes and provide bins for waste collection; build noise and public safety barriers; build pedestrian bridges to give residents access to separated areas; use signs to control traffic and establish an emergency plan in case of road accidents and emergencies; improve employee skill-sets ; train medical staff on handling and disposing of medical wastes; provide protective clothing and practice good hygiene; vaccinate health workers and segregate medical wastes and incinerate it in designated area; and ship medical waste to sanitary landfill.

Resource: AGPP ESIA 

In short, the Government of Egypt, Alexandria Governorate, has received a PHRD grant from the Government of Japan toward the cost of project preparation of the Alexandria Growth Pole Project (AGPP) with the World Bank. The objective of AGPP is to enable Alexandria to take advantage of its competitive endowments, better manage local assets, and remove constraints to private sector-led growth, while ensuring the socio-economic integration of the poor. The major components of the project are: Improve Local Investment Climate, Local Economic Development, and the Urban Upgrading of three squatter settlements.

Resource: AGPP Resettlement Policy Framework

Services

Defining the environmental and social objectives as well as the area of influence related to each of the four components:

• Conducting scoping sessions on the terms of references that has been developed for this assignment;
• Conducting alternative environment and social analysis related to the three components as appropriate;
• Identifying major environmental safeguards that are to be triggered and issues related to each component, and their
  direct, indirect, cumulative and cross-sectoral impacts;
• Identifying the major social issues as well the appropriate social safeguards that could be triggered;
• Determining the appropriate institutional arrangement and local policies required to mitigate any adverse impact;
• Assessing the environmental and social baseline requirements;
• Preparing a resettlement policy framework.
• Conducting periodic consultations on the IESIA with local stakeholders, project affected people, project beneficiaries and local NGOs;
• Prepare and finalize after consultation the IESIA report including component-specific environmental management plan, and an executive summary in English and Arabic

Resource: AGPP Social Assessment