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World Bank withdraws support to Thar coal project
ISLAMABAD (May 17 2010): The World Bank has withdrawn its strong support for Thar coal project which, according to the Sindh government, is a discriminatory act, official sources told Business Recorder.
"Major reasons for the World Bank's withdrawal from the project is lack of emphasis on Thar coal resources in our national energy policy and our failure to highlight these reserves as critical for our national security," sources stated.
This withdrawal would compromise funding by other multilaterals as well as they (multilaterals) are committed to harmonising their policy objectives.
"It is imperative that the World Bank and the US government should be pursued forcefully to reverse the decision of the Bank. As regards TCAP, the activities undertaken are critical for development of coal sector in Sindh, and Thar in particular. Hence, it should continue to complete the tasks taken in hand," sources added.
Sindh government is of the view that the World Bank's policy is not uniform: it is supporting coal projects in some countries and has approved coal projects in South Africa, Botswana and India. The Bank has approved $3.75 billion coal mining and power project in South Africa. It has adopted a dual policy. It is entertaining coal projects in those countries where coal has been declared as a component of national security and where there is no other alternative available.
Unfortunately, Pakistan has not been included in this list, mainly because the government of Pakistan (GoP) has not given the development of coal the status of strategic interest and part of national security.
Earlier, the World Bank had urged the government to prepare a comprehensive plan to resettle the population likely to be affected in Thar after formal start of Thar coal mine development and power generation projects.
Last year, a World Bank team visited the expected affected area and met with people who reportedly expressed little confidence in the government's intention and capacity to relocate them.
In May 2009, Sindh government and the World Bank signed the $30 million agreement for the 'Thar Coal and Power Technical Assistance Project' (TCAP).
The Bank's team in its report stated that similar to their meeting with the NGOs the main outcome of the meeting with village representatives (Wervai Rahiman village) was that while there is broad acceptance among the local population for the need for Thar coal development, yet significant concerns remain. Like the NGO group, the village representatives displayed impressive knowledge of the coming developments and their possible impacts.
The Bank recorded the following three concerns of the local population: (I) Trust deficit. Village representatives emphasised that local communities would welcome third-party oversight over all resettlement and compensation issues. They cited many precedents in which promises of compensation were either not fulfilled by government agencies and contractors, or compensation was captured by the more powerful people of the area. Among these were compensation to communities impacted by the construction of Chotiari Dam, the cutting down of trees to build roads in Thar, for which re-planting was promised, etc.
(II) Land Title: Village representatives outlined three categories in which Thar land may be divided after the land grant policy of 1982 prescribed encroachments and aggrandisement. These are registered cultivable land being cultivated by private owners, unregistered cultivable land owned by the government but being cultivated by villagers, and non-cultivable land granted to villagers by government for communal grazing. Village representatives emphasised that a 'credible organisation' should be engaged to conduct surveys for determining land title and assessments of impacts on livelihoods.
(III) Loss of topsoil: Village representatives were highly concerned about the loss of top soil (which supports their livelihoods) in the mining areas not only where open-pit mining will be conducted but also in the surrounding areas. Even with replacement of the topsoil, vegetation in the desert takes very long to grow and, therefore, sand erosion and drift affecting neighbouring areas may result without special measures.
The World Bank stated that village representatives expressed unease in respect of efforts to resettle them, and suggested the following:
(i) communities, to be resettled, must be informed at least a year before any resettlement takes place in view of their annual planning cycles;
(ii) since development in a specific location is likely to impact on water outside of the immediate project area, affected communities, even if not in the resettlement area, need to be compensated accordingly;
(iii) since most people in Thar live in open grazing lands, such communities should be resettled in open grazing lands rather than housing colonies 'which would be considered prisons' by such communities;
(iv) local people should be trained in advance for employment opportunities; and (v) affected villages should form committees which would then be involved in decision-making bodies with government and developers.
The team also visited the Government Polytechnic Institute at Mitthi, run by Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA), and received a briefing from the Principal. The institute offers 3-year diploma courses in two disciplines: electrical technology (from 2001) and mining technology (started in 2003) with ADB funding. The curriculum was developed by Association of Canadian Community Colleges.
