Resettlement Policies

and Practices in Lao PDR

Jointly Presented by:
Mr. Daovong Phonekeo, Director General, Department of Energy
Policy and Planning, Ministry of Energy and Mines
Mrs. Bouakeo Phounsavath, Director of Legislative Division,
Department of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
(DESIA), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
(MoNRE), Lao PDR.
Lao PDR: National Energy Policy and the history
Country Background
Population of 6.4 mil or ~27 people/square kilometers;
Per capita GNI of US$ 1,026 and GDP is expected to grow at an average rate of 7.7%
during 2011-2015;
Electrification ratio reached 80% or 1,060,413 households in 2012, increased from 19% in
1996;
Per Capita Electricity Consumption of 470 Kwh/a but has been growing at an average rate
of more than10% in the last 15 years;
Electricity export ~ 15% of total countrys export revenues; Power sectors
contribution to GDP is projected to increase to ~16% in 2020;
Installed capacity is 3,200 Mw in 2012 and will be 12,500 Mw in 2020, substantially all
hydro and about 85% is planned for export;
Hydro potentials in Laos is about 26,000 Mw
High demand for electricity supply from neighboring countries, Thailand for 7,000 MW
and Vietnam 5,000 MW, Cambodia 200 MW by 2020
Hydropower development is, therefore one of the most rapidly growing sectors in Laos
The government of Lao PDR (GoL) is in process of liberating its country from the status
of least developed country by 2020.
National Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability of the Lao Hydropower Sector
was issued in 2006;
Map of Operation
Dam and Planned
Hydropower in Lao
PDR 2012
Data Source: Government of Laos (2011a)
Total number of Power
Projects in Laos
Lao PDR: National Energy Policy
o Maintain and expand affordable, reliable and
sustainable electricity supply to promote
economic and social development. Electrification
Ratio to exceed 90% by 2020;
o Improve and expand transmission networks to
support the industrialization and modernization
policy, and to integrate the power sector in the
ASEAN community through its power exchange
programs;
o Tap the countrys large hydropower potentials
with the participation of private developers;
o Promotion of Renewable Energy to reach 30% by
2025 with reasonable feed-in tariff.
The total number of affected people by Hydropower projects in Lao PDR
No.
Name of Project
Installed
Capacity
Social Environment / People and household affected by the
project
# Village # household # People
1Expansion
Theun Hinboun
280 MW 11 800 4,800
2Selabam 5 MW No resettlement
3Se Xet 2 (State Utility) 76 MW No resettlement
4Se Xet 1 45 MW No resettlement
5Nam Mang 3 40 MW Resettlement = 1,200 Peoples
6Nam Lik 1-2 100 MW 7 ? 3,127
7Nam Ngum 1 155 MW Resettlement = 3,242 Peoples
8Nam Ngum 2 615 MW 16 1,099 6,234
9Nam Ngum 5 (IPP) 120 MW 1 49 994
10Nam Theun 2 1070 MW 16 1,300 6,200
Total: 2,726 MW 51 3,248 25,797
Data Source: www.poweringprogress.org
On-going Efforts to Address the
Environmental and Social Challenges
Institutional Arrangements:
o Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental (MoNRE
Contractual agreement (CA) negotiation and monitoring to
ensure that Standard Environmental and Social Obligations
(SESOs) are incorporated into the CA and complied ) through
Department of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
(DESIA), established to develop and disseminate policies and
legal framework and review ESIA compliance
o Ministry of Energy and Mines in charge of energy promotion and
development promotion and by the project developers.
o Provinces through PoNREs and PEMO responsible for SIA and
resettlement compliance monitoring and reporting to their
respective ministries (MoNRE and MEM)
On-going Efforts to Address the
Environmental and Social Challenges
Legal framework:
o The Environmental Protection Law (EPL), dated 1999 and the Decree on
the implementation of the EPL, 2001
o EIA Regulation No 1770, dated 3 October, 2000
o Decree No 192/PM, dated 7 July, 2005 on the Compensation and
Resettlement of People Affected by Development Projects
o Regulations No2431/STEA for Implementing the Decree 192/PM on
Compensation and Resettlement (C & R)of People Affected by
Development Projects
o Technical Guidelines, 2005 on Compensation and Resettlement in
Development Projects.
o General Guidelines on Public Involvement in Development Projects (2013)
o Decree on the establishment of Environmental Protection Fund (EPF),
2005
Number ElectricStep Amount IEE EIA TOR
Annex
CA
1
Operational
14 2 7
2
UnderConstruction
10 2 8 9
3
PlanningStage
24 1 14 4 3
4
MOUFeasibility
37 4 7 5
85 9 36 9
Where are we now ?
However, review of ESIA compliance and on the ground compliance
monitoring remain a challenge;
Legal reinforcement and monitoring capacity of the national
implementing agencies particularly the provinces are still
relatively weak to manage the rapid growth of the hydropower
development projects;
Lack of independent (third party) monitoring agencies and heavily
reliance on overseas TA and expertise;
Lack of legal awareness among local people and their participation.
On-going and pipeline projects to strengthen
SIA and resettlement management
o Lao Social and Environmental Project, (LEnS) 2006-2013 supported by the
WB through EPF aiming to assist the GoL (MoNRE, provinces, NUOL,
LFNC) to strengthen the management of environmental and social issues
associated with the sustainable use of natural resources in Lao PDR.
o Technical Assistance for Hydropower and Mining Sectors (HMTA) to MEM
supported by the WB, 2010-2014.
o Strengthening Environmental Management Project (SEM II), supported by
SIDA, years 2008-2011.
o Environmental Management support Program (EMSP), supported by
Finland (2012 - 2015).
o Strengthening and Use of Country Safeguards Systems (TA 97566-REG)
supported by ADB 2011.
o Project for Strengthening Natural Resources, Environmental Social Impact
Management to be expectedly multi-donor trust funded current under
concept discussion.
o NT2 Hydropower project as a learning model of ESIA and resettlement
Lao experience in
resettlement in the
hydropower sector in the
past decade
with the case of NT2
A Cornerstone for Poverty Reduction in Laos
Major revenues to GOL during NT2 project operation
Royalties, taxes and dividends increasing from 25 to 140 MUS$ per year,
with a total of 2000 MUS$ over the 25 years concession period (as from
2010 7% to 9% of the country budget )
Revenues to be used for poverty reduction in Laos within a GOL revenue
management scheme
Project transferred to Government of Laos after 25 years of operation by
NTPC
Direct benefits for local people
270 Km of roads built or upgraded
Major improvement in living condition for the 6500 people resettled
A 76 MUSD environmental and social program
Employment for up to 8000 Lao workers during construction
1 MUS$ per year, paid by the project, for the protection of the NBCA (from
FC till end of concession = 31 MUSD in total)
Benefits for Thailand and Lao PDR
Competitive energy
Saving over 200MT of CO2 over the concession period
Legal framework for NT2
Resettlement
GoL Resettlement Policy for NT2 and other
GoL Decrees
Concession Agreement (CA)
Social Development Plans (SDPs)
(The parties to the CA agreed that the
SDPs would be used for the purpose of
identifying and addressing the Project Impacts)
Resettlement Objectives
Ensure that Resettlers have their income
earning capacity enhanced and achieve
the Household Income Target;
Materially improve Resettler livelihoods on
a sustainable basis;
Apply special measures to improve the
socio-economic status of ethnic minorities
and vulnerable persons;
Household Income target (HIT)
The greater of:
- The then current National Poverty Line,
multiplied the number of persons in the
household; and
- LAK 1,420,800 per person, multiplied by the
number of persons in the household ( which
is equivalent to USD 1,200 per average
household in June 2002)
- CA states that HIT should be measured at the
end of year 5 of the RIP;
Major improvement of living
conditions for families
resettled on Nakai Plateau
Livelihoods Support
Agricultural plots - 0.66
ha/household
Fisheries, with boats and
equipment supplied by NTPC
Improved livestock techniques
Village Forestry Association
and off-farm income
Livelihoods Support
Public Health Program
Infrastructure / equipment / vehicles /
medicines
Training and capacity building (more
than 1,000 people trained)
Health education & awareness (more
than 30,000 people involved)
Public health monitoring and surveillance
Thank You