The multi-lateral financial institutions are incorporating the experiences of more than one and a half dozen countries in handling the land disputes, involuntary displacement and other problems involving local people while implementing the hydropower projects.[break]
“Problems over rights of local people and land acquisition are frequently reported during implementation of hydropower projects in Nepal. So, we are working to make different policy recommendations to the Ministry of Energy of Nepal regarding amicable solution of such disputes in hydropower projects by incorporating the best practices in different countries,” said Chaohua Zhang, Lead Special Development Specialist for South Asia Region at World Bank office in Kathmandu at a press briefing on Friday.
Chaohua said decades-old existing Land Acquisition Act of Nepal is insufficient to deal with the growing problems relating to issues of local people. “Nepal´s existing Land Acquisition Act can only resolve the problem relating to compensation to the affected people. It can´t address the problems relating to livelihood of displaced people and their resettlements during the execution of the project,” said Chaohua.
Stating that disputes with local people in implementing big infrastructure projects involving involuntary resettlement and environment impacts are big challenges in Nepal, Chaohua said profit sharing by project developers with local people, offering ownership of shares to affected people, arrangement of alternatives in involuntary resettlement to restore and improve livelihood to ensure win-win situation would be helpful to settle such disputes.
“Companies concerned or contractors should be made responsible to the local people as well as adequate compensation, creation of jobs, supports to local development will be instrumental to minimize dispute with local people to ensure smooth functioning of projects,” added Chaohua.
Meanwhile, a South Asia level workshop on Management of Land Acquisition, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Benefit Sharing in Infrastructure Development will be organized on January 18-19 in Kathmandu.
The objectives of the two-day workshop are to share good practices in addressing the land settlement disputes with local people while implementing infrastructure projects. More than 80 exporters, policy makers, investors, among others, are representing eight countries of South Asia at the program.
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