Major Differences with Other Projects
In the process of the relocation and resettlement, the main differences with other projects are as follows;
- Formal as well as informal consultative meetings with the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) including farmers were held for at least 8 times during the process either at the temporary office of the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee or in the PAPs' village. During the initial consultative meetings, Thilawa SEZ project development was thoroughly explained with powerpoint slides. Then, at the later meetings, data collection, and resettlement procedures were explained. In each meeting, progress updates related to data collection, relocation and resettlement procedures, environmental impact assessment, and other related information were explained. All PAPs were invited to the meetings. Detailed questions and answers in each meeting, attendance sheets with attendees's signatures, and pictures can be seen in the Resettlement Work Plan, which can be downloaded from this website. In many projects in the past, such consultative meetings were not held.
- Systematic surveys on collection of primary data regarding the socio-economic conditions of the PAPs were conducted during the process to develop Resettlement Action Plan. In many other projects, systematic socio-economic surveys on PAPs were never conducted.
- Aerial photos were taken, and location of each PAP, the sizes of their houses and farms were precisely calculated and positioned through the Global Positioning System. Using these data, Detailed Map Surveys were conducted on each PAP. This is also the first project, where arial photos and Detailed GPS Map Surveys were conducted so that there was little controversy related to the size and position of the PAPs's houses and farms.
- The cut-of-date, after which the new entrants into the project area would not be eligible for compensation, was announced according to the international standard. In other projects, data on PAPs were not properly collected and the cut-off-date was not announced leading to a situation where many newcomers enter into the project area with the expectation to receive compensation. Similar thing is happening in Thilawa, as newcomers are coming into Thilawa SEZ project area; however, due to proper data collection, they can be identified more easily, and moreover, due to the prior announcement related to the cut-of-date, it is easier to say that they will not be eligible for compensation.
- Negotiations with the PAPs were conducted.
Photos: Some Consultative Meetings with Project Affected Persons
