Viet Nam: Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity Project – Component 4: The interconnecting road to NH91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS As of Aprl 15, 2022 Currency unit – Vietnam Dong VND VND1.00 = $0.000044 $1.00 = VND 23,000 ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank AH/AP Affected Household/Affect

Social Monitoring Report

Semestral Report

June 2022

Viet Nam: Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity

NH91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass

Prepared by Nguyen Tien Dzung, External Resettlement Monitoring Consultant for My Thuan

PMU/Ministry of Transport and the Asian Development Bank

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS

(As of Aprl 15, 2022) Currency unit – Vietnam Dong (VND) VND1.00 = $0.000044

$1.00 = VND 23,000

ABBREVIATIONS

ADB Asian Development Bank

AH/AP Affected Household/Affected Person

PMU Project Management Unit

CPC Commune People’s Committee

CARB Compensation, Assistance and Resettlement Board

CLFD Center for Land Fund Development

CMDRCP Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity Project

DDIS Detailed Design and Project Implementation Support Consultant

DMS Detailed Measurement Survey

MOT Ministry of Transport

GOV Government of Vietnam

EMC External Monitoring Consultant

IOL Inventory of Losses

IRP Income restoration Program

LURC Land Use Right Certificate

MOLISA Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

NGO Non-governmental organization

PPC Provincial People’s Committee

PIB Project Information Booklet

PMU-MT PMU My Thuan

RCS Replacement Cost Survey

RS Resettlement Site

RP/uRP Resettlement Plan/ updated Resettlement Plan

SES Socio – economic survey

SPS Safeguard Policy Statement

WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT UNIT

M (meter) – Base unit of length M2 (square meter) – A system of units used to measure areas

M3 (Volume) – A system of units used to measure the spaces that

an object or substance occupies

Kg (kilogram) – A decimal unit of weight based on the gram

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Affected household (AH) - Means any household, person, firm, private or public institution

that, on account of changes resulting from the Subproject, will have its (i) standard of living adversely affected; (ii) right, title or interest

in any house, land (including residential, commercial, agricultural, forest, salt mining 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

Compensation - This is payment given in cash or in kind to affected persons (Aps)

at replacement cost or at current market value for assets and income sources acquired or adversely affected by the project Detailed Measurement

Survey (DMS)

-

With the use of the approved detailed engineering drawings, this activity involves the finalization and/or validation of the results of the inventory of losses (IOL), severity of impacts, and list of Aps done during RP preparation

Entitlements - Refers to a range of measures, such as compensation in cash or

in kind, income restoration support, transfer assistance, relocation support, etc which are provided to the Aps, depending on the type and severity of their losses, to restore their economic and social base

Eligibility - Means any person who has settled in the subproject area before

the cut-off date that suffers from (i) loss of shelter, (ii) loss of assets

or ability to access such assets, permanently or temporarily, or (iii) loss of income sources or livelihood, regardless of relocation will

be entitled to compensation and/or assistance

Ethnic minority (EM)/

indigenous people (IP)

- The term ethnic minority or indigenous people is used generic

sense to refer to a distinct, vulnerable, social and cultural group possessing the following characteristics in varying degrees (i) self-identification as members of a distinct indigenous cultural group and recognition of this identity by others; (ii) collective attachment

to geographically distinct habitats or ancestral territories in the project area and to the natural resources in these habitats and

territories; (iii) customary cultural, economic, social, or political institutions that are separate from those of the dominant society and culture; and
(iv) a distinct language, often different from the official language of the country or region.
In the case of Viet Nam, there is a high degree of consistency between the Vietnamese definition of ethnic minorities and ADB’s definition of Indigenous People The main point of divergence is that, in the case of ADB’s policy, a group that has lost collective attachment to geographically distinct habitats or ancestral territories in the project area because

of forced severance remains eligible for coverage National legislation, customary law, and any international conventions to which Viet Nam is a party are taken into account for application of the ADB policy

Income restoration - This is the re-establishment of sources of income and livelihood of

the affected households

Income restoration

program

- A program designed with various activities that aim to support

affected persons to recover their income/livelihood to subproject levels The program is designed to address the specific needs of the affected persons based on the socio-economic survey and consultations

pre-Inventory of losses - This is the process where all fixed assets (i.e., lands used for

residence, commerce, agriculture, including ponds; dwelling units; stalls and shops; secondary structures, such as fences, tombs, wells; trees with commercial value; etc.) and sources of income and livelihood inside the subproject right-of-way (ROW) are identified, measured, their owners identified, their exact location pinpointed, and their replacement costs calculated Additionally, the severity of impact to the affected assets and the severity of impact to the livelihood and productive capacity of DPs will be determined

Land acquisition - Refers to the process whereby an individual, household, firm or

private institution is compelled by a public agency to alienate all or part of the land it owns or possesses to the ownership and possession of that agency for public purposes in return for compensation at replacement costs

Rehabilitation - This refers to additional support provided to Ahs/DPs losing

productive assets, incomes, employment or sources of living, to supplement payment of compensation for acquired assets, in order

to achieve, at a minimum, full restoration of pre-project living standards and quality of life

Relocation - This is the physical relocation of an AH/DP from its pre-project

place of residence and/or business

Replacement cost - Means the amount in cash or in kind needed to replace an asset

in its existing condition, without deduction of transaction costs or depreciation and salvageable materials, at prevailing current market value at the time of compensation payment

Replacement cost study - This refers to the process involved in determining replacement

costs of affected assets based on empirical data

Resettlement - Means all social and economic impacts that are permanent or

temporary and are (i) caused by acquisition of land and other fixed assets, (ii) by change in the use of land, or (iii) restrictions imposed

on land, as a result of a project This includes all measures taken

to mitigate any and all adverse impacts of a subproject on AP property and/or livelihoods, including compensation, relocation (where relevant), and rehabilitation as needed

Resettlement plan (RP) - This is a time-bound action plan with budget setting out

compensation and resettlement strategies, objectives, entitlements, actions, responsibilities, monitoring and evaluation Severely affected

household

- This refers to affected households who are (i) physically displaced

from their residences and have to relocate or (ii) losing from 10%

or more of their income generating/productive assets

Vulnerable groups - These are distinct groups of people who might suffer

disproportionately or face the risk of being further marginalized by the effects of resettlement and specifically include: (i) female headed households with dependents, (ii) disabled household heads, (iii) households falling under the generally accepted indicator for poverty, (iv) children and the elderly households who are landless and with no other means of support, (v) landless households, and (vi) indigenous people or ethnic minorities

NOTE

In this report, “$” refers to US dollars

This social monitoring report is a document of the borrower The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature

In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation

of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I PROJECT DESCRIPTION 8

1.1 Project Overview 8

1.2 The scope of the project’s impacts as DMS results 9

1.3 Rational and Objectives of the External Monitoring 10

1.4 Implementation Organization and Monitoring Methods 11

1.5 Follow – up pending issues of the previous report 13

II MONITORING RESULTS 15

2.1 Overview of implementation organization 15

2.2 Evaluation on project documents in terms of land acquisition 16

2.3 Preparation and concurrence of ADB on social safeguard documents 16

2.4 Public Consultation and Information Disclosure 17

2.5 Detailed Measurement Survey (DMS) 18

2.6 Preparation and approval for the compensation plans 19

2.7 Compensation payment and handover of the site 26

2.8 Relocation and Resettlement 28

2.9 Grievance Redress Mechanism 29

2.10 Income Restoration Program 30

2.11 Relocation of public works 31

2.12 Gender and vulnerable groups 31

2.13 Re-issuance of land use right certificate for remaining 33

2.14 Compliance levels of RP implementation 34

2.15 Obstructions and pending issues in RP implementation 40

2.16 Overall assessment of the satisfaction of affected households 40

2.17 Pending Issues of Components 1, 2 and 3 under the Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity Project (CMDRCP) 41

III CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 43

3.1 Conclusions 43

3.2 Recommendation and action plan 43

APPENDICES 45

Appendix 1 The third external monitoring program 45

Appendix 2.1: Survey Questionnaires 46

Appendix 2.2: In-depth interview guideline 54

Appendix 3: Grievance Situation and Redress as of December 2021 56

Appendix 4: List of Surveyed Households 58

Appendix 5: Minutes of consultation meeting 61

Appendix 6: Photos of Resettlement Site in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities 81

Appendix 7: Some photos of the third external monitoring 85

LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Summary of the Scope of Impacts until December 31, 2021 9

Table 2 Follow – up the pending issues of the previous report 13

Table 3 Status of safeguard document preparation as required by the project 16

Table 4 Involvement of AHs in information dissemination and consultation 18

Table 5 Participation rate of AHs in the DMS process and their satisfaction 19

Table 6 Satisfaction of AHs on compensation rates 22

Table 7 Applicable Allowance 22

Table 8 Progress of compensation plan preparation 25

Table 9 Compensation/support payment progress 26

Table 10 Site handover progress for the project 27

Table 11 Number of Eligible HHs to the IRP 30

Table 12 Number of vulnerable household 32

Table 13 Progress of adjusting LURCs 34

Table 14 Compliance levels of RP implementation 35

Table 15 Pending issues 40

Table 16 Satisfaction level of affected households 41

Table 17 Recommendations and implementation plan 43

I PROJECT DESCRIPTION 1.1 Project Overview

1 The Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity Project (CMDRCP) aims to improve connectivity in the Mekong Delta Region and provide efficient access from Ho Chi Minh City to the Southern Coastal Region including Can Tho City, Dong Thap and An Giang provinces Funding sources for the project include ODA from the Asian Development Bank, grants from the Australian Government and counterpart funds from the Vietnamese Government The project has

an implementation period from 2018 to 2023

2 The CMDRCP is comprised of five (5) Project Components, which includes:

(i) Component 1: Cao Lanh Bridge (6-lane cable-stayed bridge, 2.1 km long) and approach roads (5.7 km);

(ii) Component 2: Interconnecting Road to Cao Lanh Bridge and Vam Cong Bridge (4 lanes, 15.7km long, design speed of 80km/h);

(iii) Component 3: Vam Cong Bridge (4-lane cable-stayed bridge, 2.9km long) and approach roads (2.9km);

(iv) Component 4: Interconnecting Road to National Highway 91 and Long Xuyen City bypass (2 lanes, 15.7km long, design speed of 80km/h);

(v) Component 5: My An – Cao Lanh Connecting Road (2-lane wide, 26.3km long, design speed 80km/h)

3 Project Component 4: The Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass is part of the Central Mekong Delta Region Connectivity Project (hereinafter referred

to as the Project): The interconnecting road to National Highway 91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass was approved as Decision No 2527/QD-BGTVT dated 22 November 2018 by the Ministry of Transport The source of fund for this component will include Asian Development Bank and counterpart funds from the Vietnamese Government

4 The project was implemented to alleviate traffic congestion and accidents on National Highway 91, which runs through Long Xuyen city, and to provide smooth and continuous road traffic The project also aims to gradually connect the entire transport network in the Mekong Delta region, in accordance with government plans, laying the foundation for socio-economic development and ensuring national defense and security for An Giang province, the Mekong Delta region, and the entire country In addition, the project intends to improve the efficiency of projects that have already been completed or are in the process of being completed, such as the Cao Lanh Bridge, the Vam Cong Bridge, the interconnecting road between the two bridges, and the

Lo Te-Rach Soi Road, etc

5 The project is being implemented in Can Tho city and the An Giang province of Vietnam with the following scope and scale:

- The starting point is at Km7+877.13 (according to the overall station of the Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass), connecting with the approach roads from National Highway 80 to Vam Cong Bridge

- The ending point is at Km23+561.22, intersecting with the National Highway 91 at Km65+000

- Length of the route: 17.5 Km

- In addition, upgrading about 2km of National Highway 80 to connect from National Highway 91 to Long Xuyen City Bypass

- The project is carried out in compliance with Grade III plain road standards, with a design speed of 80km/h The section of upgrading National Highway 80 is built to grade VI plain road standards, with a design speed of 60km/h (TCVN 4054:2005)

- Scale of cross-section: 02 lanes for motor vehicles, width of roadbed Broadbed = 12 m; width of road surface, Broadsurface = 11m

- Road surface: High grade-A1, required elastic modulus of Eyc≥140Mpa

- Design frequency: P=4% for roadbed, culverts, and small bridges, while P=1% for large bridges

- Bridges are designed according to TCVN 11823-1:2017 to TCVN 11823-14:2017 with bridge size matching the roadbed

6 Project Component 4 “The Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” with a total length of 17.5km is being implemented in Can Tho and Long Xuyen cities The project will run through 10 communes/wards in the two cities of Can Tho and Long Xuyen (An Giang)

1.2 The scope of the project’s impacts as DMS results

7 The project will require land acquisition in two cities, Can Tho and Long Xuyen (An Giang province) At the end of December 2021, the DMS in Long Xuyen city has been completed in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities

8 Affected household: According to DMS results provided by Center for Land Fund

Development of Can Tho and Long Xuyen Cities, by the end of December 2021, the project has

597 affected households and 11 affected organizations Among the affected households, 330 households lost by 10% or more of their agricultural land; 160 households have to be resettled and 70 households are vulnerable, none of AHs belong to ethnic minority

9 Affected land: The total area of acquired land is 486,4899.1 m2 of all kinds of land in the 10

wards/communes of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities, including 22,067.1 m2 of residential land, 360,827.0 m2 of land for annual crops, 47,777.4 m2 of land for perennial crops, 17,787.9 m2 of aquaculture land and 38,029.7 m2 of public land in eight wards/communes A summary of the scope of impact is presented in the table below:

Table 1 Summary of the Scope of Impacts until December 31, 2021

HHs losing 10% of agricultura

l land or more

Displace

d househol

ds

Vulnerabl

e househol

ds

Total affected land area

HHs losing 10% of agricultura

l land or more

Displace

d househol

ds

Vulnerabl

e househol

ds

Total affected land area

Source: CLFD of Long Xuyen and Can Tho Cities by Dec 2021

10 Affected public utilities: There are 6 agencies (01 in Long Xuyen city and 05 in Can Tho city) whose public facilities are affected and displaced due to the project implementation The scope of relocation of public uitlities is described below:

- An Giang Power Company: Elevating the two existing transmission lines (110 kV Long

Xuyen 2 - An Chau transmission line and the 110 kV Long Xuyen 2 - Thoi Thuan transmission line) New construction of the 04 iron towers located on the same centerline with the existing line

- Can Tho Power Company: Relocating 03 of 0.4 KV power poles and 04 of 22 KV power poles;

- Vietel Can Tho Brach: Dismantling and relocating the BTS CTO 0115

- VNPT Can Tho: Relocating underground cable, optical cable F110, suspended cables with 4 wires;

- Thot Not Water Supply Joint Stock Company: Relocating the water supply pipe D63 HDPE, 26 m in length and relocating the water supply pipe D250 iron, 26 m in length;

- Center for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation of Can Tho: Relocating the water supply pipe HDPE D168, 62 m in length and relocating the water supply pipe HDPE D90, 62 m in length

1.3 Rational and Objectives of the External Monitoring

1.3.1 The rational of external monitoring

11 The project is identified and categorized as A for involuntary resettlement and catagorized C for indigenous people As a result, both internal and external monitoring/evaluation is required from the start of DMS implementation until the end of resettlement activities, as per ADB requirements The main purpose of the internal and external monitoring is to ensure that matters related to involuntary resettlement has been implemented in accordance with the policies and procedures of the RPs/uRPs following ADB’s SPS 2009 and the project policy

12 The external monitoring consultant will undertake two periodic monitoring phases per year (every six months) It is expected that there will be six (6) periodic monitoring phases and one (1) assessment after completion of resettlement The first monitoring takes place in December 2020 Once every 6-12 months, after all resettlement activities of the project have been finished, a post-resettlement evaluation will be conducted to determine the extent to which resettlement goals have been met and any forms of assistance that should be offered and extended

13 This is the third Monitoring Report, and it reflects the outcomes of the compensation, site clearance, and resettlement activities that took place from July to December 2021

1.3.2 Objectives of External Monitoring Service

14 The general objectives of the external monitoring activity are:

(i) Ensure that affected households’ living standards are restored and improved; (ii) Monitor the project’s achievement of the overall resettlement objectives;

(iii) Evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation and compensation measures

(iv) Identify issues and risks; and

(v) Identify solutions to problems and risks

15 The specific objectives of the monitoring program are:

(vi) To verify internal monitoring, the findings of internal monitoring reports prepared by

My Thuan PMU and units in charge of site clearance in Can Tho and An Giang; (vii) To verify whether the overall project and resettlement objectives are being met in accordance with the approved RP, and if not, to suggest corrective measures (viii) To assess the extent to which implementation of the RP complies with ADB’s Safeguards Policy Statement (SPS);

(ix) To identify pending issues or potential problems to propose necessary adjustments

in the implementation of RP and IRPs to improve implementation effectiveness; (x) To verify if the livelihoods and the standard of living of affected persons (Aps), including those of non-titled displaced persons, have been restored or improved; (xi) To examine whether the provision of compensation and other agreed forms of assistance complies with the approved RP;

(xii) To assess whether supplemental assistance measures have been provided in accordance with the IRPs, and the extent to which they have been effective in restoring incomes and living standards for severely affected households;

(xiii) To assess the effectiveness, impact and sustainable level of resettlement agencies and procedures;

(xiv) To propose necessary adjustments to the implementation of RP and IRPs to improve implementation effectiveness

1.4 Implementation Organization and Monitoring Methods

1.4.1 Implementation organization

16 The third external monitoring was conducted by the Consultant from February 25 to March

31, 2022 At the consulting office, EMC has researched the documents and reports related to the project implementation progress of the stakeholders EMC has also prepared at the office the monitoring program, working content and developed a toolkit for the monitoring session Specific

activities of the monitoring phase are presented in Appendix 1

17 Field activities was also carried out from March 01, 2022 to March 31, 2022 The EMC had worked with relevant units and officials such as My Thuan PMU, DDIS Consultant, Can Tho CLFD, Long Xuyen CLFD, representatives of People's Committees of project communes and wards and affected households In addition, the consultant has collected, investigated, and analyzed project documents related to compensation, site clearance, and resettlement provided

by the above-mentioned CLFDs

18 During the monitoring, the consultant also conducted group discussions and questionnaire interviews with affected households, as well as conducted field observations and assessments to collect more information for independent monitoring

1.4.2 Methods of monitoring

19 During the 3rd independent monitoring, the EMC used the following monitoring and information collection methods:

20 Reviewing project documents: In resettlement monitoring, document analysis is a critical

method This method includes gathering available documents related to compensation, site clearance, and resettlement in the project Consultants can better comprehend the status and outcomes of compensation, site clearance, and resettlement in each phase of the project by analyzing available documents It also assists in identifying and comparing performance results

to project regulations, as well as comparing findings from other methodologies to make a compliance assessment

21 During the monitoring process, the main documents were collected and studied by the consultant, including: (i) Resettlement Policy Framework; (ii) Resettlement Plan and Updated Resettlement Plans; (iii) Legal documents on unit price and compensation policy of project provinces; (iv) Internal monitoring reports and others reports; (v) Memorandum of Understanding, (vi) approved compensation plans, and (vii) Documents relating to compensation payments and

statistics on affected households’ claims

22 In-depth interviews and consultations with project staff: The EMC conducted in-depth interviews with 21 local staff, including one officer from My Thuan PMU, one staff member from DDIS; 02 members from Can Tho CLFD; 03 mebers from Long Xuyen CLFD, 14 members from the People’s Committees of ten project wards/communes (See sample of in-depth interview

guidelines in Appendix 2.2)

23 The in-depth interviews covered topics such as: (i) general progress and difficulties in compensation and resettlement; (ii) participation and satisfaction/consent of affected households; (ii) application of the project’s policy to the preparation of compensation plans and resettlement arrangements; (iv) grievances and grievance redress; and (v) coordination among stakeholders

in the implementation process, and other issues In-depth interviews with project staff and members of commune/ward People’s Committees provided more details on the land acquisition, compensation policy application, and resettlement arrangements It also makes it easier to compare data from document analysis and household interviews

24 Questionnaire interviews with affected households: In the monitoring process, this

method is used as the primary tool to collect information of the AHs concerning about their demographic characteristics, income and living standards, production conditions, levels of satisfaction with the compensation, levels of satisfaction with the terms and the implementation

of the RPs, the effectiveness and sustainability of the benefits and income restoration measures, and their ability to restore/rebuild their livelihoods and living standards

25 Questionnaire survey were conducted with a total of 114 households affected by the project, including 44 households losing 10% or more of their productive land, 31 displaced households,

18 vulnerable households and 21 other AHs The list of households interviewed is shown in

Appendix 4 and the questionnaire is shown in Appendix 2.1 of the report

26 Method of comparison over time: The consultant collected information and statistics at

several points throughout the monitoring process and compared the compensation and resettlement results at different times The method of comparison over time is a reliable way for analyzing the change in living standards and recovery of impacted households

27 Field observation: During the monitoring process, EMC also conducted field visits at the

construction site and visited resettlement sites to collect more information for the preparation of independent monitoring reports

28 Data processing and report development: Analyzed data and information has been

synthesized and stored in a resettlement database of the EMC During the next monitoring phases, this database will be used for monitoring and evaluation Monitoring reports are built on the basis of data analysis and comparison; they also highlight the results of monitoring for compensation, support, and resettlement, as well as potential strategies to address outstanding issues with precise timelines and responsibilities of stakeholders

1.5 Follow – up pending issues of the previous report

29 The pending issues of the previous report are updated in the below table:

Table 2 Follow – up the pending issues of the previous report

2 Addendum uRP

for public works in

Long Xuyen City

that have not

been built and

3 The IRP for

Being solved

Reviewing of households eligible for IRP and needs assessment of these households is underway in the localities

Being solved

The resettlement area in the west of An Giang University has been completed It is expected that relocation households in Long Xuyen city can receive resettlement plots in the second quarter of

No Issues Recommendations Implementation Status (as

In addition, PMU My Thuan needs to coordinate with CFLD of Dong Thap province to inform the households at these locations about the transition of investment projects of these works as well as the next implementation plans related to the land acquisition

Solved

PMU My Thuan has officially informed Dong Thap province about the project transition and has completed the procedures to convert investment activities of this item to another project

8 Site clearance for

Solved

PMU My Thuan has completed the procedures to convert investment activities

of this item to another project

II MONITORING RESULTS

2.1 Overview of implementation organization

30 The Ministry of Transport (MOT) is the executing agency (EA) for the Project and PMU My Thuan (PMU-MT) is the implementing agency (IA) in the whole Project

31 According to the provisions of the Land Law 2013, Decree No 47/2014/ NĐ-CP dated 15/05/2014 and Decision No 2527/QD-BGTVT dated November 22, 2018 of the Ministry of Transport on approving the investment project, the compensation, support, resettlement, and site clearance in this project are separated into independent sub-projects (hereinafter referred to as Site Clearance Subproject) As a result, the People’s Committee of An Giang Province and Can Tho City are responsible for Project Owners for the site clearance subproject in each province

32 The People's Committee of An Giang province and the People's Committee of Can Tho city are responsible for directing the organization of land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement for this Project The Ministry of Transport is responsible for coordinating, implementing and securing funding for compensation, support and resettlement according to regulations

33 In each project province, the responsibility for compensation, support, resettlement and site clearance was assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to the functional agencies In An Giang province, the implementation of compensation and resettlement support has been assigned to the CLFD of Long Xuyen City under Decision No 105/QD-UBND dated 16/01/2019

In Can Tho city, this work is done by the CLFD of Can Tho city under Decision No UBND dated 30/11/2020

2688/QD-34 My Thuan PMU has assigned Project Management Office No.3 (PMO3) to arrange a social safeguards officer to act as a focal point and arrange coordination between PMU and relevan t parties in order to undertake compensation, support, and resettlement in the project in accordance with ADB’s safeguard policy Under the support of the Detailed Design and Project Implementation Support Consultant (DDIS), My Thuan PMU will execute internal monitoring of compensation, support, and resettlement in the project DDIS will prepare internal monitoring reports, which My Thuan PMU will submit to ADB quarterly An External Resettlement Monitoring Report will be prepared by the EMC every six months and submitted to the ADB until the resettlement activities are completed

35 PMU My Thuan completed the selection of a Detailed Design and Implementation Support Consultant (DDIS) in May 2021 At the same time, the Independent Resettlement Monitoring Consultant (EMC) also was selected and mobilized by PMU My Thuan

36 After being mobilized, both of the above consulting units coordinated with the My Thuan PMU and related units to perform the tasks as outlined in the Terms of Reference (TOR) Internal monitoring reports and independent monitoring reports have been periodically prepared by the DDIS and EMC Consultants and submitted to ADB in accordance with the Project's regulations

37 Assessment: The system of legal documents guiding the organization and implementation

of compensation, resettlement support and site clearance for the project is fully guaranteed, closely, throughout from the central level to the local level through the system of government policies and provincial decisions In general, there has been a smooth coordination between My Thuan PMU, consulting units and stakeholders in An Giang and Can Tho provinces on the organization and implementation of compensation and site clearance activities, resettlement The communication and connection system between the stakeholders has been well established and operated Internal monitoring reports and independent monitoring are now fully prepared periodically

2.2 Evaluation on project documents in terms of land acquisition

38 The consultant conducted a review of the subproject's documents including:

- Minutes of the meeting to implement the subproject, consult the community together with the list of participating households to find out the contents of information to be published and disseminated to stakeholders and affected households;

- Compensation payment decisions signed by affected households;

- Complaints and complaint resolution results;

- Decisions and legal documents of the subproject;

- uRPs of the project;

- Internal monitoring report of the subproject

39 The records of DMS, approved compensation plan, list and decision on land acquisition, decision on land acquisition are fully stored at the headquarters of the PMU and the CFLDs The minutes of inventory of the current state of assets and land are fully signed by the participants and representatives of the affected households

40 Assessment: Project documents related to compensation, support and resettlement have

been fully archived at project stakeholders and fully complied with project regulations

2.3 Preparation and concurrence of ADB on social safeguard documents

41 Land acquisition is required for the project in 10 wards/communes of Can Tho and Long Xuyen cities (An Giang province) According to the results of the project screening and social impact assessment during the preparation phase, the project is classed as Category A for involuntary resettlement

42 During the project preparation, the CDM Smith-WSP-Yooshin Consortium prepared a RP, which was approved by ADB in 2019 Based on the basic design, IOL results, socio-economic surveys (SES), and consultation with affected households, this RP was jointly designed for Can Tho and Long Xuyen cities

43 During the project implementation phase, the uRPs for the sections in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities were prepared and approved in April 2020 and December 2021, respectively Besides, addendum uRP for relocation of utilities in Long Xuyen city was also developed and approved in December 2021

44 Other documents related to social safeguard, such as (i) updated Social Action Plans (uSAPs) (addressing project concerns about gender, vulnerable groups, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, etc.); (ii) updated Income Restoration Programs (uIRP); and (iii) Addendum uRP fro relocation of utilities in Can Tho city are still under development and have not been approved The table below summarizes the progress of preparing documents related to social safeguards in the project

Table 3 Status of safeguard document preparation as required by the project

No Section Required safeguard

5 Both Long Xuyen and Can Tho

city

6 Both Long Xuyen and Can Tho

city

45 Assessment: There has been a significant improvement in the preparation of the remaining

uRPs in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities By the end of December 2021, the uRP for the section

in Can Tho city and uRP for the relocation of utilities in Long Xuyen city have been prepared and approved However, the preparation of the Addendum uRP of relocation of utilities in Can Tho city,uIRPs and uSAPs (updated Income Restoration Programs and the updated Social Action Plans) has lagged far behind the intended schedule By the end of December 2021, none of the above two documents have been approved

2.4 Public Consultation and Information Disclosure

46 Information dissemination and public consultation were carried out both during the project preparation phase and the project implementation phase

47 During RP preparation at PPTA stage, public consultation meetings were conducted in 2017

in the project area to provide information and identify concerns of households in the project area

48 Information dissemination and public consultation continued during the RP update process

in An Giang and Can Tho provinces in 2019, 2020 and 2021 These meetings were to (i) Disclosure information of subprojects and its implementation plans, (ii) Policies and principles of land acquisition and compensation, (iii) Summary of impacts and (iv) Consultation with local people, etc

49 Besides, as ADB’s requirement, the approved RP and the RPF have also been disclosed to all affected households and other stakeholders, besides the copies of these RP that were placed

in the commune/and villages The project's policy framework and its RPs have been also uploaded on the ADB website

50 During the monitoring process, the consultant found that there are many ways in which information dissemination and public consultation has been carried out The main methods in which information dissemination and consultation was carried out included: (i) holding community meetings; (ii) distributing Project Information Booklets (PIBs); (iii) posting information at commune/ward headquarters; (iv) notifying each household; and (v) online consultation via digital platform through media

51 Monitoring results show that community meetings are a commonly used and effective form

of information dissemination and dialogue in the Project At the meetings, affected households have the opportunity to communicate directly with project staff about topics such as the scope of impact, as well as their entitlements and policies for the affected assets In the context of unequal

education and reading comprehension among the receivers, the consultation meetings also offered a positive two-way information interaction between the implementing agencies and the people

52 In addition, during the period when the Covid-19 pandemic affected face-to-face communication activities, the online form of digital consultation was used effectively and increased the ability to adapt to the situation disease patterns in the locality

53 Using a variety of ways of consultation and information dissemination also helps to reduce complaints from the affected households and contributes to speeding up the project implementation

54 The results of the 3rd monitoring also showed that, in addition to the consultation and information dissemination activities held by the CFLD in Long Xuyen city, these activities have also been started and promoted in Can Tho city

55 In the process of organizing compensation and support activities, compensation plans have also been posted at the offices of the commune/ward People’s Committee and delivered to each household in accordance with the terms of the Land Law

56 According to the findings of the interviews with the affected households, notice of land acquisition, DMS process, project policies, compensation unit pricing, as well as the complaint and grievance redress process, was provided sufficiently to affected households and communities The results of household interviews relevant to this subject are summarized in the table below

Table 4 Involvement of AHs in information dissemination and consultation

Total number of households interviewed

Results

Yes No Number % Number %

Source: Third External Monitoring survey

56 Assessment: The information disclosure and public consultation for PAPs were carried out

at different times to the fullest extent possible and in accordance with the 2013 Land Law and the ADB’s safeguard policies Various forms of consultation and information dissemination were used during project implementation The affected households are informed about the project, understand their policies and benefits as well as actively participate in implementation coordination The AHs surveyed were pleased with the project's information disclosure and public consultation activities

2.5 Detailed Measurement Survey (DMS)

57 The Land Fund Development Centers of Can Tho City and Long Xuyen City are the two units

in charge of implementing DMS in their respective areas During the implementation process, the CLFDs coordinated with the cadastral officer at the commune/ward level and the village head to conduct DMS activities

58 By the end of December 2021, the DMS for the road section in Long Xuyen was finished for both road section and relocation of public utilities In Can Tho city, DMS is currently only completed for the road section; DMS for relocation of public utilities is currently being started Currently, PMU My Thuan has provided the design documents of the alignment to the CLFD of Can Tho City to determine the relocation scope of these public utilities CLFD of Can Tho City has invited the owners/governing agencies of these utilities to conduct field surveys Currently, the owners/governing agencies of these utilities are preparing design and cost estimates documents to relocate these utilities.

59 The majority of DMS work in Long Xuyen City was conducted from May to October 2019 In Can Tho city, DMS started to be implemented from May 2021 and is now almost complete except for relocation of public utilities as mentioned above

60 Monitoring results showed that the inventory process was carried out in compliance with the project's regulations Before conducting DMS, compensation agencies have informed people about the time and plan to conduct DMS After completing the DMS, all AHs will be handed over the documents to check and compare and respond if there are errors so that the compensation agency can promptly confirm The final DMS results are recorded in writing and signed by the representative of the household and the compensation agency and are kept at each

61 The results of interviews with 114 affected households in Long Xuyen and Can Tho Cities howed that all AHs were informed about the DMS and land acquisition plan Most people participated in the DMS process; they all know the amount of affected assets and are satisfied with the results of the DMS The table below shows the participation of affected households in the DMS process:

Table 5 Participation rate of AHs in the DMS process and their satisfaction

Total number of HHs interviewed

Results

3 Be satisfied with the DMS results 114 112 98.2 2 1.8

Source: Third External Monitoring survey

62 Assessment: The DMS implementation progress in both Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities

has been basically completed, except for the relocation of public works in Can Tho which is currently DMS process underway and it is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2022 The DMS implementation process in both cities complied with the project’s policy and legal regulations Affected households are involved in the DMS process This activity is done openly, with relatively accurate results that are accepted by the majority of households

2.6 Preparation and approval for the compensation plans

2.6.1 Legal framework and applicable policy

63 Compensation plans have been developed for affected households in both Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities The main legal framework and basis for compensation, support, and resettlement plans for affected households in both cities were developed in accordance with Vietnamese law

on compensation, support, and resettlement (Land Law 2013 and guiding documents); (ii) ADB Policy (SPS 2009); (iii) project documents such as RPF, uRP, etc and (iv) Policies and regulations of the People's Committee of An Giang province and Can Tho city are as follows:

64 In An Giang province:

- Decision No 33/2018/QD-UBND dated October 9, 2018 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province promulgating the compensation, support and resettlement when the State recovers land in An Giang province;

- Notice No 31/TB-UBND dated May 21, 2019 of the People’s Committee of Long Xuyen city on land acquisition for the construction of the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

- Decision No 08/2018/QD-UBND dated April 4, 2018 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province promulgating compensation rates for crops and livestock when the State recovers land in An Giang province;

- Decision No 736/QD-UBND dated April 1, 220 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province on approving replacement costs for affected structures and houses of the

“Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

- Decision No 2176/QD-UBND dated September 10, 2019 of the People’s Committee of

An Giang province approving the compensation rate for land affected by the

“Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

- Decision No 801/QD-UBND dated April 10, 2020 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province approving the adjustment of land prices for compensation in the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

- Decision No 877/QD-UBND dated April 20, 2020 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province approving the updated Resettlement Plan for the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

- Decision No 117/QD-UBND dated January 17, 2020 of the People’s Committee of An Giang province on approving the resettlement policy for the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project;

65 In Can Tho city:

- Decision No.15/2014/QD-UBND dated 13/11/2014 of People's Committee of Can Tho city

on promulgating regulations on compensation, support and resettlement when the State recovers land in Can Tho city

- Decision No.19/2016/QĐ-UBND dated 11/07/2016 by Can Tho city People’s Committee amending and supplementing some articles for Decision No 15/2014/QĐ-UBND dated 13/11/2014 of Can Tho city People’s Committee

- Decision No.10/2021/QĐ-UBND dated 29/06/2021 by Can Tho city People’s Committee amending and supplementing some articles for Decision No 15/2014/QĐ-UBND dated 13/11/2014 and Decision No.19/2016/QĐ-UBND dated 11/07/2016 of Can Tho city People’s Committee

- Decision No.10/2020/QD-UBND dated 09/09/2020 of Can Tho city People’s Committee promulgating compensation rates for housing; works/structures and aquacultures in Can Tho city

- Decision No.1710/2021/QD-UBND dated 09/08/2021 of Can Tho city People’s Committee promulgating compensation rates for crop and tree in Can Tho city

- Decision No 3472/QD-UBND dated 23/11/2021 of People's Committee of Can Tho city

on approving the compensation rate for land affected by the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project, in Thoi Thuan ward, Thot Not district

- Decision No 3495/QD-UBND dated 24/11/2021 of People's Committee of Can Tho city

on approving the compensation rate for land affected by the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project, in Vinh Trinh commune, Vinh Thanh district

66 The legal basis system for compensation, support, and resettlement for AHs in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities have been approved and promulgated fully and in detail The People’s Committee of An Giang province and Can Tho city have released regulations on compensation, support, and compensation unit price, as well as support policies for households subject to resettlement, in addition to the authorized project policy framework and updated resettlement plan

2.6.2 Replacement costs

67 As detailed mentioned in the 1st monitoring report, in Long Xuyen city the procedure of survey, assessment, and approval of replacement cost in the project was carried out in compliance with the regulations of the 2013 Land Law and to meet the project’s requirements Two independent replacement cost survey consultants were hired to conduct a survey of replacement costs in 2019 Based on the valuation certificates of the above consultant firms, the Appraisal Council advised the People’s Committee of An Giang province to issue decisions on the compensation rates in accordance with the procedure of the law

68 The An Giang PPC issued Decisions No 2176/QD-UBND dated September 10, 2019 and

No 801/QD-UBND dated April 10, 2020, which set the compensation rate for land affected by this project In Decision No 736/QD-UBND dated April 1, 2020, the An Giang PPC set the compensation rate for impacted houses and structures The compensation rate for crops and livestock is determined by the An Giang PPC’s Decision No 08/2018/QD-UBND dated April 4,

2018

69 In Can Tho city, the results of the third monitoring show that, the procedure of survey, assessment, and approval of replacement cost is the same as in Long Xuyen city The replacement cost survey on land was conducted in Q1 of 2021 and approved by Can Tho City People's Committee in December 2021 Accordingly, the People's Committee of Can Tho city issued Decisions 3472/QD-UBND dated 23/11/2021 and Decision No 3495/QD-UBND dated 24/11/2021, which set the specific compensation rate for affected land under in Thoi Thuan commune (Thot Not district) and Vinh Trinh commune (Vinh Thanh district) In Decision No.10/2020/QD-UBND dated 09/09/2020, the People's Committee of Can Tho city set the compensation rate for impacted houses, works/structures and aquacultures The compensation rate for crops and livestock is determined by Decision No.1710/2021/QD-UBND dated 09/08/2021

of Can Tho PPC

70 The above-mentioned unit prices, as well as the compensation, support, and resettlement plans, were officially publicized by CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Con Tho cities to the affected households after they were issued Furthermore, these unit pricing were discussed in community meetings and posted alongside the compensation plan at the commune/ward People’s Committee headquarters

71 The results of consultation with project officials, representatives of local authorities, communities and representatives of affected households show that the compensation unit price applied is suitable for the locality

72 According to survey results assessing affected households’ satisfaction with the project’s compensation rate for affected land and assets, 37.7% of respondents are “totally satisfied”, while 58.7% percent are “Satisfied”, and 3.5% (04 households) are "not satisfied" Households who are not satisfied with the compensation unit price belonging the cases that currently having complaints The table below summarizes household opinions on the project’s compensation rate

Table 6 Satisfaction of AHs on compensation rates

Source: Third External Monitoring survey

73 The compensation unit price used in the preparation of the compensation plan in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities is based on a complete replacement cost survey procedure and complies with Vietnamese and ADB requirements This unit price was also consulted and disclosed by CLFD

of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities to households in the process of developing the compensation plan It can be seen via consultations with local authorities and affected people that most people are in agreement with the project’s compensation unit price

Support Level of support in Long Xuyen city Level of support in Can Tho city

I Support for households losing their agricultural landholding

The amount of support is 1.5 times the price of agricultural land of the same type, according to the land price set by the Provincial People's Committee

If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 12 months

No regulation by province but application following the project policy

If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 12 months

No regulation by province but application following the project policy

Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 6 months if no requiring relocation and

No Type of

Support Level of support in Long Xuyen city Level of support in Can Tho city

agricultural

landholding

within 12 months if requiring relocation

If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 24 months

within 12 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely

disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 24 months

If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 36 months

Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 12 months if no requiring relocation and within 24 months if requiring

relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely

disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 36 months

II Support for households affected with houses

HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice for each household member per month for a period of 6 months;

HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice for each household member per month for a period of 3 months;

2.3

Support for

housing rent

from the time

the premises are

- Relocation households but the compensation amount for residential land is not enough to buy a minimum resettlement fee will, be supported with this difference

III Allowance for vulnerable households

3.1 Poor

households and - 10 million VND/household - 7,200,000 VND/household

to upgrade their house to category IV standard

- Vietnam Heroic Mother, Hero of People’s armed forces, Labor hero: 5,000,000VND/HH;

- Families of war invalids, families of martyrs (parents, spouses, children): 3,000,000VND/HH

- families having contribution to the revolution or families of revolutionary elder: 2,000,000 VND/HH;

- Families with regular social allowances: 1,000,000 VND/HH

- Poor and near-poor households (with eligible certification) losing all

residential land or agricultural land will get special allowances to overcome their poverty, in which allowance for the poor HHs:

8,000,000 VND/HH, and for the near poor HHs: 4,000,000 VND/HH

- Female-headed households with dependents and elderly households who are landless and with no other means of support will get assistance

All severely affected households and vulnerable households are eligible to participate in the project's income restoration program

V Incentive

bonus

A bonus of 10 million VND to 15 million VND would be given to impacted households who hand over the site in advance and on schedule, depending

on the compensation amount

- Owner of agricultural land:

2,000VND/m2 but the total bonus will not exceed 3,000,000VND/owner

- Owner of houses, residential land or non-agricultural land: 5% of total value of the property, but not over 5,000,000 VND/HH

- In case a household has many houses, works or plants on different land plots, they will be rewarded according to each location

75 The results of the review of compensation plans show that these supports have been applied and paid to the affected households Besides, the bonus for handing over the site has also been paid to households who hand over of the land and ground early or on time

76 Comparing with the entitlements policies mentioned in uRP, all of these entitlements have been fully applied as mentioned by uRP These allowances have substantially met the requirements for damage reduction and economic and life restoration and are consistent with the social safeguard goals outlined in ADB's 2009 SPS

2.6.3 Approval of Compensation Plan

77 As of December 2021, in both Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities, a total of 591/597 affected households have been approved by with a total value of VND 476,392,673,624 The development and approval of the compensation plan reached 99% In comparison to DMS data, there are currently 02 households in Long Xuyen city that have not been approved for the compensation plan Regarding the six (06) remaining households whose CP has not yet been approved, the CLFD of Long Xuyen city is reviewing legal documents to finalize the compensation plan It is expected that the final compensation plan for the above-mentioned 06 households will be approved by the People’s Committee of Long Xuyen City by Quarter of 2, 2022

78 Details of the progress of approval of compensation plan in the project wards are as follows:

Table 8 Progress of compensation plan preparation

No City/Ward/

Commune

No of AHs

No of AHs approved

CP

Total budget approved (VND)

2 My Thoi 74 71 68,313,417,029 No.537/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020 and

No 1508/QD-UBND dated 31/08/2020

3 My Quy 33 33 29,361,600,523 No.531/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020 and

No 1354/QD-UBND dated 13/08/2020

4 My Phuoc 60 60 39,823,948,972 No.538/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020 and

No.1507/QĐ-UBND dated 31/08/2020

No.533/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020;

No 1656/QĐ-UBND dated 16/09/2020;

No 1648/QĐ-UBND dated 04/05/2021;

No 2472/QĐ-UBND dated 02/07/2021; and No 1328/QĐ-UBND dated

18/08/2021

6 My Khanh 75 75 43,421,458,100 No.535/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020

7 Binh Khanh 29 26 20,980,340,295 No.534/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020 and

No 1369/QD-UBND dated 17/08/2020

No.532/QĐ-UBND dated 20/04/2020;

No 1388/QD-UBND dated 18/08/2020;

No 1939/QD-UBND dated 13/08/2020;

No 324/QD-UBND dated 01/03/20201; and No 1607/QD-UBND dated

29/12/2021

Source: CLFD of Long Xuyen and Can Tho Cities

79 Conducting an assessment of the compensation plan development process shows that, in general, the compensation plan development process in both Long Xuyen and An Giang cities is basically the same and follows a sequence of laws Vietnam on compensation and site clearance

In both cities, the compensation plans are made in two stages: a draft plan and a final plan The draft plan is first prepared by the CLFD and openly publicized at the commune/ward People's Committee headquarters within 20 days for affected households to comment on At the end of the disclosure process, each commune/ward holds a consultation meeting to gather feedback from affected households on the draft plan The final compensation plan is approved by the City People’s Committee after considering the opinions and consensus of affected households

80 During the monitoring period, the consultant found that, in addition to the overall compensation plan for each commune/ward, a separate compensation plan for each AH was also developed and approved The draft compensation plan has been examined by all AHs, and a copy of their final approval decision on the compensation plan has been retained

81 Some compensation plans have been examined for compliance with the approved uRP and policy framework According to the evaluation results, the evaluation findings demonstrate that all

of these compensation plans were developed and approved based on the DMS results that were confirmed by the households The replacement cost issued by An Giang PPC and Can Tho PPC

is used for calculating compensation for the affected assets Other support policies, such as (i) job change and job creation support for households whose agricultural land has been acquired; (ii) life stabilization support; (iii) relocation assistance; (iv) support for renting houses; (v) support for vulnerable households; and (vi) support for displaced households, have all been followed

82 Assessment: In general, CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities have carried out the

process of preparing and approving the compensation plan in accordance with the projects and Vietnam’s regulations All compensation plans have been publicly posted at the headquarters of the People's Committee of the ward and commune before being approved by the authorities

2.7 Compensation payment and handover of the site

2.7.1 Compensation payment

83 As of December 2021, 562 out of 597 affected households had received compensation and assistance in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities and 35 AHs have not received the compensation The total compensation given to households is estimated to be around VND 440.2 billion The progress of compensation and support payments is summarized in the table below:

Table 9 Compensation/support payment progress

Commune

No of AHs compensated

84 Regarding the 35 AHs have not received compensation; the main reasons are follows:

85 At the section of the route passing through Long Xuyen city, there are still 14 households have not yet received compensation, of which 06 households have not yet approved the plan and

08 AHs have been approved for the compensation plan but have not yet received the compensation These cases include 07 households are waiting to complete the procedures to receive compensation; 01 household is currently working far away and is not present in the locality The issues of the above-mentioned households are still being handled and appraised by the authorities The settlement outcomes will be updated in the next reporting period

86 At the section of the route passing through Can Tho city, the remaining 21 AHs have been approved for the compensation plan but have not yet received the compensation These cases are in the process of completing procedures and documents to receive compensation It is expected that compensation will be paid in the first quarter of 2022

87 According to the monitoring findings, compensation payment for affected households is carried out by the CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities before the household’s hand over the site to the project and the start of work Households are entitled to keep one copy of compensation documents, including the land acquisition decision, the compensation plan approval decision, a detailed statistical spreadsheet, minutes of volume confirmation, and payment slips

88 Assessment: Compensation plans in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities have been prepared

to the process of complying with the requirements of the project and the provisions of the law Compensation payment has been nearly completed in Long Xuyen and is being started in Can Tho In general, the affected households are satisfied with the payment of compensation, support and resettlement

89 As for the remaining AHs that have not yet received compensation in Long Xuyen and Can Tho, the CFLDs of these two cities should quickly coordinate with relevant parties to complete the dossier and pay the compensation to ensure that meet the overall progress of the project

2.7.2 Status of handing over land to project

90 By the end of December 2021, a total of 539/597 (90%) affected households have handed over land to the project in two cities is Long Xuyen and Can Tho The area of land that households have handed over to the project accounts for about 83.3% of the total affected land area (equivalent to 40.5 ha) The progress of handing over the site at the Communes/wards in Long Xuyen and Can Tho is shown in the table below

Table 10 Site handover progress for the project

Source: CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Can Tho Cities

91 In Long Xuyen City, as reported by the CLFD, there are 33 households that have not yet handed over the site to the project by the end of December 2021 Most of the households are waiting to for land plots in RS Currently, the RS has been completed and it is in the process of carrying out relevant procedures to allocate the land plots for households (expected at the end of

in April 2022)

92 In Can Tho, all 10 AHs have handed over the site to the project The remaining 21 households are in the process of receiving compensation and are expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2022

93 Assessment: Most of the households paid compensation have already handed over the site,

except for some households waiting to receive the resettlement land plot and some households having complaints in Long Xuyen city CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities need to continue

to make efforts to complete the procedures to pay compensation, arrange resettlement and hand over the land on time for the project

2.8 Relocation and Resettlement

In Long Xuyen City:

94 There are 143 displaced households in Long Xuyen city due to land acquisition and affected their house As mentioned in the previous reports, these households will be arranged to the resettlement area in the west of An Giang University, My Hoa Ward in Long Xuyen City

95 The resettlement site, which is located near Long Xuyen city’s urban area, has about 331 land parcels The average distance between the affected households’ previous residence and the resettlement site is 1.5 to 4 kilometers, and social services such as health centers, schools, and markets are easily accessible The resettlement area is equipped with all necessary infrastructure, including a road network, lighting, water supply, and drainage Furthermore, the resettlement area is in a convenient location, with easy access to Long Xuyen city’s urban area, and has the potential to develop into a dynamic urban area with economic and social benefits

96 The resettlement site is completed and all infrastructures are in place DONRE is advising the Provincial People's Committee to complete the procedures for allocating resettlement land plots to affected households Once completed, marks on the ground to divide plots will be installed and it is expected that by the end of April 2022, the land plots in RS will be allocated to households Some pictures of the construction progress of the resettlement site presented in

Appendix 6 of the report

97 Assessment: Except for the delay in handing over the resettlement land lots to the AHs, in

general the resettlement arrangement and its benefits policies have ensured the rights of the displaced households according to the policies of the project CLFD Long Xuyen city needs to make efforts to speed up the completion of procedures to allocate land to resettled households

so that these households can hand over land soon, which will ensure the project's construction progress

In Can Tho City:

98 There are 17 displaced households in Can Tho city Consultation meetings on the project’s compensation policy in general and the resettlement arrangement plan in particular were held at

02 project communes/wards in May 2017 and September 2020 A total of 17 households whose entire houses and residential land are fully affected will be allocated plots in the project resettlement sites

99 In Vinh Thanh district: Relocated HHs (4 HHs) will be allocated a plot in the Residential Area

of Administrative Center of Vinh Thanh district, where is about 1,5 km to affected land and 1 km

to utility services The infrastructure of this residential area is complete and ready to receive households to build houses to live Area of one plot is from 100m2 -120 m2/plot

100 In Thot Not District, relocated HHs (14 AHs) will be allocated a plot in the Thoi Thuan ward

RS The infrastructures of this RS are completed and relocated HHs can start to build their house

In the RS, the area of one plot is from 100m2 to 120 m2

101 These above resettlement areas are equipped with all necessary infrastructure, including

a road network, lighting, water supply, and drainage Furthermore, the resettlement area is in a convenient location, with easy access to the administrative centers of the district, which are conveniently located in terms of traffic and and has the potential to develop into a dynamic urban area with economic and social benefits Some pictures of the resettlement site presented in

Appendix 6 of the report

102 At the time of reporting, all relocated HHs are in the process of paying compensation and have not been allocated plot(s) in resettlement sites It's expected to allocate land plot(s) to relocated HHs in April, 2022

2.9 Grievance Redress Mechanism

103 A grievance redress and mechanism (GRM) has been established for the project and specified in the updated resettlement plan (uRP) to ensure that AHs have the opportunity to voice their grievances and that complaints related to compensation, support, and resettlement are dealt with promptly and effectively The Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) for the project has been formed based on a 4-level system of state agencies The first level is the Commune/Ward People's Committee, followed by the City People’s Committee, and finally the Provincial People’s Committee If the case is not resolved to his satisfaction, the complainant is free to file his case with the court Households also have the option of taking their cases to ADB if efforts to resolve complaints or disputes remain unresolved and unsatisfactory under the project's grievance redress mechanism

104 In Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities, the GRM was disseminated during the RP updating This mechanism was also disclosed in meetings and in decisions approving the compensation plan that was provided to each household The AHs can submit a complaint about the compensation at the CLFDs of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities or local administrative levels of these two cities

105 By the time of this report, a total of 16 households have filed a complaint over compensation for site clearance and resettlement in Long Xuyen City These concerns centered

on three key points: (i) the low compensation rate for land and structures (08 HHs); (ii) a proposal

to arrange more resettlement plots (06 HHs); and (iii) a request for additional assistance (02 HHs)

At the time of monitoring, these complaints were forwarded to the Long Xuyen City Inspector for review It should be noted that, out of 16 households with complaints, 03 households in the previous reporting period have not yet been resolved and 13 households have recorded complaints in this reporting period Details of the complaints are provided in Appendix 3 of this

report

106 In Can Tho City, at the time of monitoring no complaints have been recorded since the compensation work has just started to be implemented

107 According to monitoring results, the 4-level system of GRM is followed in the implementation process Although some complaints can be addressed at the commune level, the majority of cases are forwarded to the City Inspector Affected households stated that they were aware of the complaint process and that they were not required to pay any fees in order to file a complaint The results of community consultation show that, in general, affected households are satisfied with the complaint settlement Some households, after being explained by the authorities, had a better understanding of their rights, so they also withdrew their complaints

108 Assessment: Grievance and grievance redress process is applied under the project’s grievance redress mechanism and regulations of Law on Complaints and Denunciations AHs in the project have access to the complaint process and the resolution of complaints All applications and documents, appraisal results are kept at CLFD

2.10 Income Restoration Program

109 An Income Restoration Program (IRP) is required for the project, according to the uRP for Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities which has been approved by ADB Eligible HHs to participate in the income restoration program including: (i) relocated HHs; (ii) HHs who losing from 10% or more

of their productive land); (iii) relocated business; and (v) vulnerable HHs

110 As of December 2021, a total of 455 AHs in the two cities are eligible to the IRP as presented in the Table below

Table 11 Number of Eligible HHs to the IRP

Source: CLFD of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities

111 During the RP updating process, initial assessments based on consultation with affected households’ needs and aspirations were conducted to design income restoration programs for eligible households In Long Xuyen and Can Tho ciies, a preliminary income restoration program for AHs was prepared and included in the uRP This income restoration program must be updated

in accordance with the project’s requirements, which include participant screening and updating, extensive consultation, and a reassessment of the affected households’ needs

1 Some households have more than one criterion

112 By the time of this monitoring period, the IRP is still not prepared and approved yet for AHs in both cities In Long Xuyen city, the meetings on the organization of IRP implementation were held in September 2021 and working groups have been established Currently, the needs assessment is being carried out by working groups in the project communes/wards It is expected that the IRP will be finalized at the end of May 2022

113 In Can Tho, working groups for preparing IRP have not yet been established Working groups is expected to establish in May 2022 As a result, organizational preparations and needs assessment are not yet underway

114 One of the reasons for the delay preparation of IRP preparation is due to survey on need assessment of entitled HHs could not conduct because of restrictions by Covid-19 pandemic

115 Assessment: The income restoration program’s updating and implementation is lagging behind compensation and site clearance At the time of monitoring, no income restoration program has been implemented EMC recommends that PMU My Thuan coordinate with stakeholders speed up to promote related activities to soon complete and implement IRP

2.11 Relocation of public works

In Long Xuyen city:

116 In Long Xuyen city, an addendum to the Resettlement Plan for utilities relocaiton was approved by ADB in December 2021 Currently, cost estimates documents for relocation

of utilities are being appraised by the functions of Long Xuyen city It is expected that PC of Long Xuyen City issued the decision to approve the compensation cost for relocation of utilities in March

2022 It's expected to relocate utilities in June 2022

In Can Tho city:

117 Within the Right-of-Way (RoW) of the bypass, medium and low voltage transmission lines, water supply system and telecommunications cable system will be affected and will need to be relocated PMU My Thuan has provided the design documents of the alignment to the CLFD of Can Tho City to determine the relocation scope of these public utilities

118 CLFD of Can Tho City has invited the owners/governing agencies of these utilities to conduct field surveys Currently, the owners/governing agencies of these utilities are preparing design and cost estimates documents to relocate these utilities it is expected that addendum uRP for the relocation of utilities will be approved by the end of April 2022 and the compensation plans for relocation of utilities will be approved in June 2022 Relocation of utilities will be conducted in July 2022

119 Assessment: In Long Xuyen city, the procedures for relocation preparation and

compensation for the impacts of the relocation of utilities have almost been completed and have entered the implementation phase Meanwhile, in Can Tho city DMS and uRP are still ongoing and it is expected that addendum uRP relocation of utilities will be approved by the end of April

of the site), vulnerable households affected by the project are also supported according to the approved benefits for each category of object in uRP

Table 12 Number of vulnerable households

No

City/Ward/

Commune

Poor HH

headed

Women-HH

Policy HH

Disabled HH

Source: CLFD of Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities

121 In Long Xuyen city, benefits for each type of household as follows:

- Poor households and policy households: 10,000,000 VND/HH

- Other vulnerable households: 5,000,000 VND/HH;

- House upgrade assistance: households with less than a category IV house shall receive additional assistance of 539,000 VND/m2

122 In Can Tho city, benefits for each type of household as follows:

- Vietnam Heroic Mother, Hero of People’s armed forces, Labor hero: 5,000,000VND/HH;

- Families of war invalids, families of martyrs (parents, spouses, children): 3,000,000VND/HH

- Families having contribution to the revolution or families of revolutionary elder: 2,000,000 VND/HH;

- Families with regular social allowances: 1,000,000 VND/HH

- Poor and near-poor households (with eligible certification) losing all residential land or agricultural land will get special allowances to overcome their poverty, in which allowance for the poor HHs: 8,000,000 VND/HH, and for the near poor HHs: 4,000,000 VND/HH

- Female-headed households with dependents and elderly households who are landless and with no other means of support will get assistance of 5,000,000 VND/HH

123 Besides, these households will be entitled to take part of the IRP that is developed in accordance with the project’s regulations to help the AHs in restoring their livelihood and income

and prevention; (iii) income restoration program; (iv) traffic safety; (v) labor issues; and (vi) communication plan As required by the project, these documents must be updated/prepared during the implementation of the “Interconnecting Road to National Highway No.91 and Long Xuyen City Bypass” project by updating the social action plan that was already in place during the feasibility study phase, as well as other separate documents

125 Public consultations involving representatives from the Women's Union at the commune/ward level were held during the preparation of the uRP and the implementation of the compensation and site clearance According to survey results, about more of 30% of women attend public consultation meetings on compensation and site clearance on average

126 The monitoring data show that the majority of men attend public consultation meetings to acquire information about compensation work because most of the men are the heads of the affected households In important family concerns, as well as the issue of affected assets and compensation rights, men still have the last say As a result, it is the responsibility of men to attend these meetings as head of family in order to fully comprehend the damage and compensation policies

127 Despite the fact that males make up the majority of meeting attendees, the survey shows that most women acquire compensation information from their spouses Both the husband and wife in the household come to an agreement on important compensation issues

128 According to the findings of household interviews women rate consultation meetings as the most successful means of disseminating information and addressing cultural and language requirements in the communication process Women can get information about compensation policy and express their thoughts directly to project staff at these meetings The findings also reveal that 100 percent of women in AHs obtain compensation information by attending meetings and sharing information from their husbands

129 As mentioned above, gender issues will be mainstreamed in SAP implementation A Social Action Plan (SAP) has been prepared and submitted to ADB in December 2021 and it is expected that SAP will be approved by ADB in April 2022

130 Monitoring and implementation of gender issues will be undertaken under SAP by the DDIS Consultant with the support of national social gender specialist

131 At the time of monitoring, gender experts have not been recruited and mobilized So, gender issues in the project will continue to be updated in the next monitoring

132 Assessment: Special allowances for vulnerable households have been paid to AHs in

accordance with the project’s policies However, by the time of reporting, no IRP has yet been approved and implemented for these households in both Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities The PMU My Thuan should quickly complete the procedures to recruit and mobilize gender experts

to support the implementation and monitoring of gender issues in the project

2.13 Re-issuance of land use right certificate for remaining

133 In Long Xuyen city, after land acquisition, 474 AHs will need to modify their land use right certificates (LURCs) At the time of monitoring, 426 HHs had been modified of their LURCs, and

48 are in the process of adjustment

134 In Can Tho city, the compensation is only being started, so the adjustment of LURC has not yet started

135 The current state of LURC adjustment of affected households in communes and ward of Long Xuyen is shown in the table below

Table 13 Progress of adjusting LURCs

No of AHs completed

of adjustment

No of AHs in the process of adjustment

Source: Source: CLFD of Long Xuyen City

136 Assessment: The adjustment of the land use right certificate for AHs are being conducted

in compliance with the project's policy as well as land law 2013 of Vietnam The readjustment of LURCs is free of charge for all households

2.14 Compliance levels of RP implementation

137 The table below provides a general assessment of compliance with RP implementation

Table 14 Compliance levels of RP implementation

- Full disclosure of information on investment projects, design options, mitigation measures, and consultation with people’s needs related to land acquisition, compensation, resettlement, and income restoration;

- Ensure that PAPs are empowered to make decisions on issues that directly affect their lives and that they are given the opportunity to participate in project activities

- Project information has been published in all phases of the project

- Feedback of households during the consultations are collected to design compensation, support, resettlement, and income restoration plans

- AHs have been informed of the land acquisition and DMS plans before the DMS starts

- The compensation plan is publicly disclosed and sent to each household

Complied Continue to carry out

information disclosure and public consultation

in accordance with the project’s regulations

Detailed

measurement

survey

- A Detailed Measurement Survey (DMS) needs to

be done based on detailed engineering design (DED);

- Before conducting the DMS, it is necessary to inform the affected households about the DMS schedule

- Establish a database of AHs based on DMS results;

- Final DMS results need to be confirmed by AHs;

- Affected households are informed in advance and are entitled to participate in the DMS process

- Affected households agree and confirm the DMS results in writing

- A DMS database on AHs has been established

- The DMS in Long Xuyen and Can Tho citis is almost completed

an independent unit with experience

- The replacement cost survey was conducted

by an independent unit

- The project's compensation price is the approved replacement cost, which is acceptable to the majority of households

Complied

Areas Project policies Actual Implementation Compliant

- Compensation and support were provided to AHs prior to the construction of the work

- Compensation plans of some households in Long Xuyen ci ty are being prepared and the payment will be made in May 2022

- There are still 21 affected households in Can Tho city that have not been paid compensation yet

Being complied Long Xuyen and Can

Tho CLFDs need to speed up the procedure of payment

of compensation for the remaining households

Resettlement a/ Residential land, houses, structures, and other

affected assets are compensated at replacement cost; and

b/ Transport allowance depending on the type of house and the size of the house

c/ Subsistence allowance in cash to support the

HH during the period of transition while establishing a new house:

- Fully affected and relocated HH: HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg

of rice for each household member for a period of 6 months;

- Household with partially affected house, not relocated: HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice for each household member for a period of 3 months

c/ Rental assistance: The time for calculation of rental assistance is from the date the land user hands-over land until after 3 months of receiving a plot in RS

d/ If income and livelihood of AHs are affected due

to relocation (change of livelihood, decrease in income), displaced households have the right to participate in the IRP

a/ Residential land, houses, structures, and other affected assets are compensated at replacement cost; and

b/ Transport allowance depending on the type of house and the size of the house

c/ Subsistence allowance in cash to support the

HH during the period of transition while establishing a new house:

- Fully affected and relocated HH: HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice for each household member for a period of 6 months;

- Household with partially affected house, not relocated: HH will be provided with cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice for each household member for a period of 3 months

c/ Rental assistance: The time for calculation of rental assistance is from the date the land user hands-over land until after 3 months of receiving

a plot in RS

- d/ IRP is not implemented for AHs

- e/ The resettled households in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities have not been allocated

residential land in the resettlement area

Being complied -CLFDs of Long Xuyen

and Can Tho cities should speed up the completion of administrative procedures to soon hand over

resettlement land to displaced households

-My Thuan PMU needs

to work closely with the DDIS to

accelerate the preparation of the IRP, as well as its implementation

Areas Project policies Actual Implementation Compliant

- Loss from 10% - <30% total agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 3 months if no requiring relocation and within 6 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 12 months

- Loss from 30% - <70% total agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 6 months if no requiring relocation and within 12 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 24 months;

- Loss from 70 agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 12 months if no requiring relocation and within 24 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 36 months;

c/ Households and individuals directly involved in agricultural production are entitled to the

allowances for changing jobs and creating jobs in

a/ Cash compensation at the replacement cost

of affected land and assets; and b/ Households and individuals directly involved

in agricultural production are entitled to the livelihood stabilization allowances as follows:

- Loss from 10% - <30% total agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg

of rice per household member within 3 months if

no requiring relocation and within 6 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions

or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 12 months

- Loss from 30% - <70% total agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg

of rice per household member within 6 months if

no requiring relocation and within 12 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions

or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 24 months;

- Loss from 70 agricultural landholding: Cash assistance equivalent to 30kg of rice per household member within 12 months if no requiring relocation and within 24 months if requiring relocation If AHs have to move to the locality with difficult socio-economic conditions

or extremely disadvantageous socio-economic conditions, maximum assistance time will be 36 months;

Being complied My Thuan PMU needs

to work closely with the DDIS and CLFDs in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities to accelerate the preparation of the IRP, as well as its implementation

Areas Project policies Actual Implementation Compliant

assessment

Proposed Solutions

cash The monetary support level is equal from 1.5

to 3 times of the price of agricultural land of the same type of land according to the land price prescribed by PPC; the supported area does not exceed the prescribed agricultural land quota

d/ Members of households whose livelihoods are affected by displacement have the right to participate in income restoration program (IRP)

c/ Households and individuals directly involved

in agricultural production are entitled to the allowances for changing jobs and creating jobs

in cash The monetary support level is equal from 1.5 to 3 times of the price of agricultural land of the same type of land according to the land price prescribed by PPC; the supported area does not exceed the prescribed agricultural land quota

- d/ IRP is not implemented for the AHs Allowance for

is entitled to special allowance by cash to help improve the social and economic condition of the household as mentioned in uRP

b/ House upgrade assistance:

- Participate in the project's income restoration program

a/ Special allowance;

- In addition to getting compensation and support for damaged land and assets (along with bonuses for quick handover of the site), vulnerable households is entitled to special allowance by cash to help improve the social and economic condition of the household as mentioned in uRP

b/ House upgrade assistance:

- IRP is not implemented for the AHs

Being complied My Thuan PMU needs

to work closely with the DDIS and CLFDs in Long Xuyen and Can Tho cities to accelerate the preparation of the IRP, as well as its implementation

Gender issues - Ensure gender mainstreaming in all project

activities by preparing separate plans, programs, and documents;

- Full disclosure and consultation with women;

encourage women to give opinions and participate in the project implementation process;

- Private consultations with women's groups on household requirements in upgrading the IRP process and ensuring female-headed households' involvement in the IRP

- Implement gender issues under SAP

- The consultation meetings were attended by representatives of the commune/ward Women's Union The percentage of women attending meetings accounted for 30% or more

- Information on compensation and resettlement

is shared with the women in the household

- Female-headed households are not currently participating in IRP because the program has not been updated yet

Being complied My Thuan PMU needs

to work closely with the DDIS to accelerate the preparation of the IRP and SEP, as well as their implementation Gender experts should

be recruited and mobilized as soon as possible

Areas Project policies Actual Implementation Compliant

assessment

Proposed Solutions

- Gender specialist have not been recruited and mobilized to support implementation of gender issues

Grievance

redress

- PAPs can express their dissatisfaction with any part of land acquisition and resettlement requirements, including benefits, unit price, compensation payment, resettlement process, and income restoration program

- Affected households will not be responsible for any fees incurred in the course of filing complaints

or filing lawsuits at any level

- At the time of monitoring, 16 complaints is in the process of being resolved in Long Xuyen city

- According to the project's GRM and the provisions of the Law on Complaints and Denunciations, grievance and grievance redress procedures are being implemented throughout the project

Being complied Long Xuyen CLFD

should coordinate with related agencies to resolve promptly these pending cases

2.15 Obstructions and pending issues in RP implementation

138 Table below provides the main pending issues

Table 15 Pending issues

No Pending issues/

04 AHs belonging to relocation of utilities In Can Tho city, there are

21 households that have not yet been paid compensation

For the households in Long Xuyen city, the CFLD is working with stakeholders to finalize compensation payment plans and procedures It is expected to be completed

in May 2022

For the households in Long Xuyen city, he CFLD is finalizing compensation payment plans, also working with stakeholders and

My Thuan PMU to ensure the allocation of funds for compensation It is expected to be completed in May 2022

3

The IRP for

affected

households in both

cities has not yet

been approved and

implemented

Although the compensation payment is almost completed in Long Xuyen City, the income restoration programs have not been implemented due to uIRP preparation not yet completed

In Long Xuyen city, the meetings on the organization of IRP implementation were held and working groups have been established The needs assessment is being carried out by working groups in the project communes/wards It is expected that the IRP will be finalized at the end of May 2022

In Can Tho city, working groups is expected

to establish in May 2022 to start working

The CLFD of Long Xuyen City and DONRE

is advising the Provincial People's Committee to issue a decision on land acquisition for this RS and to allocate the resettlement are to the Long Xuyen bypass project Once completed, marks on the ground to divide plots will be installed It is expected to allocate plot(s) to relocated HHs in May 2022

4 Grievance redress

There are 16 households with complaints about compensation, site clearance, and resettlement in Long Xuyen City that have not been resolved

The Long Xuyen CLFD is working with the Long Xuyen City Inspector to solve these issues

2.16 Overall assessment of the satisfaction of affected households

139 Through public consultations and interviews with stakeholders and affected households, EMC found that all stakeholders in the project wards/communes supported the project implementation They are all aware of the significance and benefits of completing the project