Social Monitoring Report

4th Quarterly Report December 2017

VIE: GMS Kunming-Hai Phong Transport Corridor- Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project Prepared by Ms. Le Minh Huong, independent resettlement monitor, for the Vietnam Expressway Corporation and the Asian Development Bank.

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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.

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External Monitoring Report

Stage of the document: Implementation Project/loan number: 2391/2392/3207/3208/3209-VIE December 2017

Viet Nam: GMS Kunming-Hai Phong Transport Corridor Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of December 2017)

USD $ 1 = VND $22,675

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ADB - Asian Development Bank AHs - affected households APs - affected persons CP - compensation plan CPC - Commune People’s Committee DCSCB - District Compensation and Site Clearance Board DMS - detailed measurement survey DPC - District Peoples Committee DPs - displaced persons EA - executing agency EM - external monitor GOV - Government of Viet Nam IA - implementing agency IOL - inventory of losses km - kilometer LAPMU - Land Acquisition Provincial Management Unit LURC - land use right certificate MOLISA - Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs MONRE - Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment m² NBLC-EPMU O&M

- - -

square meter Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project Management Unit Operation and Maintenance

PPC - Provincial People’s Committee RCS - replacement cost study ROW - right-of-way REMDP - Resettlement Ethnic Minority Development Plan SES - socioeconomic survey SPS - Safeguard Policy Statements VEC - Vietnam Expressway Corporation VND - Vietnam Dong (Vietnamese Currency)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ 4

A. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7

B. Resettlement Planning ...................................................................................................... 7

1. Original scope of impacts (2007-2014) ............................................................................... 7

2. Additional land acquisition for construction of frontage roads (2016) .................................. 8

3. Additional land acquisition and land use conversion outside the project land demarcation as a result of construction impacts (2017) .............................................................................. 9

C. Objectives of the Service Assignment of the External Monitor ................................... 12

D. Activities Carried out ...................................................................................................... 13

E. Additional REMDP Addenda Implementation ................................................................ 14

1. Consultation, Participation, and Grievance Redress Mechanism .......................................14

2. Information disclosure and public consultation of the Second REMDP Addenda in 2017 ..15

3. Compensation and assistance payment ............................................................................16

4. Compensation, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation Measures ..............................................17

5. Grievance Redress Mechanism.........................................................................................19

6. Income Restoration Program .............................................................................................19

7. Monitoring .........................................................................................................................20

F. Pending Issues and Action Plan .................................................................................... 21

1. Compensation payment .................................................................................................21

2. Request for additional land acquisition ..........................................................................22

3. Erosion in Resettlement Site .........................................................................................23

4. Income Restoration Measures .......................................................................................23

5. Restoration of Damaged Community Infrastructure .......................................................24

6. Monitoring .....................................................................................................................25

G. Conclusion and Program for the Next Monitoring Field Visit ...................................... 25

H. Appendix .......................................................................................................................... 25

1. Itinerary of the External Monitoring Field Visit....................................................................25

2. List of Persons Met ........................................................................................................25

3. List of Documentation Reviewed ...................................................................................26

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1. Land acquisition status by December 2014 ................................................................. 8

Table 2. Scope of Additional Land Acquisition by Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project, November 2016 .................................................................................................................................. 9

Table 3. Scope of Additional Land Acquisition and Land Use Conversion, 2017 ....................... 9

Table 4. Preparation of Social Safeguard Documents for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project .........................................................................................................................................11

Table 5. Public Consultations and Key Topics During the Preparation of the First REMDP Addenda in 2015 and 2016 ..............................................................................................14

Table 6. Summary of Compensation and Assistance Payment of the Affected Households of the Second Round of Additional Land Acquisition in 2017 ......................................................17

Table 7. Compensation and Resettlement Measures ...............................................................18

Figure 1. Income Restoration Program Implementation Process ...............................................19

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A. Introduction

1. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a loan of $1,096 million on 14 December 2007 to help finance the GMS: Kunming-Hai Phong Transport Corridor: Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project (the “Project”). Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) is the Executing Agency. The Project has a total length of 264km, starting at interchange between Bac Thang Long - Noi Bai and the National Highway No.2 in Soc Son District, Ha Noi City, crossing the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai before terminating at Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province.

2. The project construction is divided into 2 phases:

Phase 1: o Construction of Noi Bai – Yen Bai Section with 4 lanes with the total length

of 121km. o Construction of Yen Bai – Lao Cai section with 2 lanes with the total length

of 123km. Phase 2:

o Widening Noi Bai – Yen Bai section from 4 lanes into 6 lanes. o Widening Yen Bai – Lao Cai section from 2 lanes into 4 lanes. o Construction of the last 20km of the Project connecting Noi Bai – Lao Cai

Expressway and Kunming – Hekou Expressway.

3. The Project is designed and constructed following to the Standard "A". At the present, the section from Noi Bai to Yen Bai has four lanes, two emergency stopping lanes and a design speed of 100km/h, while the section from Yen Bai to Lao Cai has two lanes, two emergency stopping lanes and a design speed of 80km/h. The first phase of the Project was commenced in the third quarter of 2008 with the total length of 244km from Hanoi City to Lao Cai City and the expressway was officially inaugurated issuing traffic and put into operation on September 21, 2014. The second phase is to be implemented.

B. Resettlement Planning

1. Original scope of impacts (2007-2014)

4. As per ADB policy, a combined Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan had been prepared for the project area in 2007 followed by 16 updated Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plans (REMDPs) prepared (one REMDP was prepared for each project district) and approved in 2009 and 2010. During the feasibility study and preliminary design, efforts had been made to minimize the adverse social impacts of the Project highway through shifting the proposed road alignment at various points to avoid human settlements, public facilities, water bodies, and hilly areas. Likewise, during the census of affected people and inventory of losses in April and June 2007 and again during the detailed measurement survey (DMS) in April to October 2008, AHs were advised through public meetings and consultations not to introduce new fixed structures within the right-of-way and/or widen and further develop structures that had been documented during the inventory of loss (IOL) and DMS. A Public Information Booklet (PIB) that explained the policy on cut-off date for eligibility was distributed to the AHs and local governments during the preparation and updating of REMDPs. The scope

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of impacts of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project as of 2014 are summarized in the Table 1 below.

Table 1. Land acquisition status by December 2014

Project Area Length of alignment (km)

Total acquired land area (ha)

Total affected households

(AHs)

Total relocated households

(AHs)

Total resettlement

sites A1 (Km0+080-Km26+700) 26.78 230.22 4,663 202 7 A2 (Km26+700-Km48+820) 22.12 158.55 4,543 233 13 A3 (Km48+820-Km80+000) 31.64 276.29 6,206 590 24 A4 (Km80+000-Km109+750) 29.75 240.35 3,178 131 10 A5 (Km109+750-Km150+900) 41.15 389.23 2,554 255 20 A6 (Km150+900-Km190+420) 39.52 329.92 1,472 89 14 A7 (Km190+420-Km218+040) 27.62 205.06 820 392 3(*) A8 (Km218+040-Km22+155) 26.12 232.76 1,595 608 8

Total 244.7 2,062.38 25,031 2,500 99 Source: Quarterly Progress Report, January 2015, Project Supervision Consultant (PSC).

5. By end of December 2014, all of the affected households have received compensation and assistances. All of 2,500 relocated households have been allocated with land plots in the resettlement sites.

2. Additional land acquisition for construction of frontage roads (2016)

6. In 2016, some land located along the expressway in 11 districts/cities needed to be additionally required to construct frontage roads. Therefore, 11 REMDP Addendums for the districts/cities were prepared for the land additionally affected. The REMDP Addendums were accepted by ADB in November 2016. Of 601 households (2,488 persons) who have land additionally acquired, 508 households (85%) were affected households previously by the Project (had land acquired by the Project and received compensation fully in 2010-2012) and 93 households (382 persons) who are the new affected households (had no land acquired by the Project before)1.

1 There are 23 new severely affected households, of which, seven households who had land marginally affected previously but become severely affected households due to additional land acquisition; and 16 households who are new affected households by land acquisition and the acquired land area is more than 10% of the total production landholding of the household. There are 11 vulnerable affected households among 93 new affected households and they are all ethnic minority people. The vulnerable households are also severely affected households (lost from more than 10% of total production landholding of the household) except three households in Chau Que Ha commune, one in Hoang Thang commune, and another one household in Yen Hop commune (Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province) - the households are marginally affected households but ethnic minority households.

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7. Affected land by additional land acquisition is agricultural/forestry land. No household has to relocate by the additional land acquisition.

Table 2. Scope of Additional Land Acquisition by Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project, November 2016

No. Province/ District/ Commune

No. of AHs by Additional Land

Acquisition

No. of New AHs by Additional Land

Acquisition No. of APs

I Lao Cai Province 193 0 793 1 Bao Thang District 161 0 647 2 Bao Yen District 3 1 13 3 Lao Cai City 19 0 95 4 Van Ban District 10 0 38 II Yen Bai Province 174 64 734 1 Tran Yen District 23 0 99 2 Yen Bai City 1 1 2 3 Van Yen District 150 63 633 III Phu Tho Province 219 28 902 1 Phu Ninh District 46 4 150 2 Cam Khe District 82 24 346 3 Ha Hoa District 91 0 406 IV Vinh Phuc Province 15 0 59 1 Lap Thach District 15 0 59

TOTAL 601 92 2,488

Source: Compiled from REMDP Addendums prepared for the districts/cities and Review Mission Report on Implementation of REMDP Addendums in April 2017.

3. Additional land acquisition and land use conversion outside the project land demarcation as a result of construction impacts (2017)

8. In 2016, at the requests of the local authorities for additional acquisition of land and land use conversion of the land outside the project land demarcation which has been affected by landslides and inundation during the highway operations and incapable of cultivation, VEC cooperated with local authorities and other relevant stakeholders to examine the affected area and decided to additionally acquire and/or convert the land use purposes of the land that is no longer cultivable. In consistence with the provisions outlined in the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS, 2009), nine additional REMDP addenda have been prepared for nine districts in November 2017, namely Bao Yen (Lao Cai), Tran Yen District, Yen Bai City, and Van Yen District (Yen Bai), Thanh Ba District, Lam Thao District, and Phu Tho Town (Phu Tho), Lap Thach and Song Lo (Vinh Phuc). As of December 2017, all of the additional addenda were accepted by ADB.

Table 3. Scope of Additional Land Acquisition and Land Use Conversion, 2017

No. Province/ District/ Commune

Additional Land Acquisition Land Use Conversion No. of AHs Area (m2) No. of AHs Area (m2)

I Lao Cai Province 0 0 3 2,066.8 1 Bao Yen District 0 0 3 2,066.8

1.1 Cam Con Commune 0 0 3 2,066.8

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II Yen Bai Province 123 39,226.36 208 115,083.90 1 Tran Yen District* 35 11,754.93 58 39,717.50

1.1 Bao Hung 3 476.24 21 15,131.00 1.2 Minh Quan 3 499.2 16 11,284.40 1.3 Minh Tien 6 2,096.04 8 4,180.20 1.4 Quy Mong 16 6,898.80 2 766.8 1.5 Y Can 7 1,784.65 11 8,355.10 2 Yen Bai City 0 0 37 14,094.1

2.1 Hop Minh Ward 0 0 23 9,402.9 2.2 Au Lau Commune 0 0 14 4,691.2 3 Van Yen District* 88 27,471.43 113 61,272.30

3.1 An Thinh 0 0.00 18 9,019.10 3.2 Chau Que Ha 24 8,080.20 21 12,363.80 3.3 Chau Que Thuong 12 3,392.28 9 6,100.00 3.4 Dong An 12 4,313.70 19 13,050.30 3.5 Hoang Thang 19 4,905.73 2 1,833.40 3.6 Tan Hop 4 2,034.41 16 9,938.70 3.7 Xuan Ai 1 413.50 20 7,390.20 3.8 Yen Hop 16 4,331.60 8 1,576.80 III Phu Tho Province 40 9,247.8 0 0 1 Thanh Ba District 2 524 0 0

1.1 Thanh Xa Commune 2 524 0 0 2 Lam Thao District 6 3,310 0 0

2.1 Tien Kien Commune 6 3,310 0 0 3 Phu Tho Town 32 5,413.8 0 0

3.1 Ha Loc Commune 21 1,139.4 0 0 3.2 Ha Thach Commune 11 4,274.4 0 0 IV Vinh Phuc Province 194 31,982.9 0 0 1 Lap Thach District 83 16,076.4 0 0

1.1 Dinh Chu Commune 83 16,076.4 0 0 2 Song Lo District 111 15,906.5 0 0

2.1 Duc Bac Commune 111 15,906.5 0 0 GRAND TOTAL* 357 80,457.06 211 117,150.7

Source: Compiled from additional REMDP Addendums prepared for the districts/cities in November 2017.

*10 households, including seven AHs in Van Yen and three AHs in Tran Yen are subject to both permanent land acquisition and land use conversion.

9. Without double counting, a total 558 households, including 357 households affected by permanent land acquisition of 80,457.06 m2 and 211 households subject to land use conversion of 117,150.7 m2 of agricultural land, are identified in the detailed measurement survey (DMS) conducted in October 2017. Of the total 558 households, 526 (or 94.26%) are already affected by the project previous land acquisition batches while only 32 households, all of whom are residing in Duc Bac Commune, Song Lo District, Vinh Phuc Province, are newly affected by this additional land acquisition. There are 210 severely affected households; in which, 208 are severely affected by the previous land acquisition. Among the 32 newly affected households, none is severely affected.

10. There are 57 vulnerable households; all of whom are already affected by the previous land acquisition. In other words, none of the 32 newly affected households in Song Lo District, Vinh

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Phuc Province belongs to vulnerable group. In this additional land acquisition batch, no household has to relocate; no house or structure is affected; and the entire area of the affected land is agricultural land. As this land has been affected by landslides, mud deposit or inundation which made the cultivation on it is very difficult or impossible, these areas are subject to acquisition. Regarding 117,150.7 m2 of 211 households in Bao Yen District (Lao Cai Province), Tran Yen, Yen Bai, and Van Yen (Yen Bai Province), the area is not permanently acquired but subject to land use conversion. These households can still use the land after it is converted into other use purposes.

11. In short, the social safeguards documents prepared for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project, including its original scope of impacts and two rounds of additional land acquisition, are presented in the following table:

Table 4. Preparation of Social Safeguard Documents for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project

No. Project Phase Combined

Resettlement and Ethnic Minority

Development Plan

Addendum to Resettlement

and Ethnic Minority

Development Plan

Time Notes

1 Preparation 1 - August 2017 1 document for

all project districts

2 Updating 17 - 2009-2010 1 document for each district

3 Additional LAR for construction of frontage roads

- 11 November 2016

1 document for each district

4 Additional LAR due to cultivation inability and land use conversion caused by construction activities

- 9 December 2017

1 document for each district

Source: Compiled by the external monitor, 2017.

12. It is noted that as VEC does not have resources for the external monitoring and preparation for two pending quarterly reports, in July 2017, VEC requested the ADB Mission to send ADB resettlement consultant to the Project to conduct the monitoring and prepare the requested reports. The external monitor, therefore, is only tasked to review the status of the additional REMDP addenda implementation and pending issues identified in the ADB review mission report in April 2017 and third quarter report in October 2017. The monitoring of the REMDP implementation for the original scope of impacts of the project was already conducted by the social team of the supervision consultant and another external monitoring agency. Their reports were submitted and disclosed on ADB website.

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C. Objectives of the Service Assignment of the External Monitor

13. The external monitoring of social safeguard2 of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project was conducted from 26 December 2017 to 5 January 2018 on an intermittent basis with the aims to:

Review the status of the additional REMDP addenda implementation; and

Review status of remaining issues identified in the October external monitoring report on implementation of the Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan (REMDP) Addendums;

14. Specifically, the EM is tasked to look into the following concerns:

The status of additional REMDP Addenda prepared for the households who are subject to additional land acquisition and/or conversion of land use purposes of the land along with the highway, which were affected by highway constructions.

The outstanding issues of the REMDP Addendums implementation including (i) three households who have not received compensation as of October 2017; (ii) the complaint of six households in An Thinh Commune, Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province regarding the erosion issues of his resettlement land plot allocated in Dai An Resettlement Site; (iii) the impacts on public structures in Cam Khe District, Phu Tho Province; and (iv) the inclusion of 26 severely affected and vulnerable households into the local socioeconomic development or rural development programs within respective provinces.

2 VEC does not have resources for the external monitoring and preparation for two pending quarterly reports. The external monitoring consultants were originally mobilized in December 2008, but the consultants kept failing to submit reports satisfactory to ADB. Therefore, ADB requested VEC to replace the consultants in 17 March 2016. VEC removed the external resettlement monitoring task from the consultants but VEC has not recruited another consultant to implement the external monitoring. Since it is now difficult for VEC to recruit the replacement EMA in timely manner due to internal procedure, in July 2017, VEC requested the ADB Mission to send ADB resettlement consultants to the Project to conduct the monitoring and prepare the remaining external monitoring reports. In September 2017, ADB has sent an ADB resettlement consultant to support VEC in the external monitoring activities upon VEC’s request. The consultant, although was mobilized once by the previous external monitoring agency in a monitoring batch in 2011, since then does not have any involvement in the resettlement implementation of the project.

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Verify other outstanding and/or arising issues (if any) during the project implementation and propose necessary corrective actions in the implementation of the REMDP Addendums to improve implementation effectiveness.

D. Activities Carried out

15. The external monitoring activity is scheduled to be conducted by end of December 2017 after the additional REMDP addenda have been prepared and submitted. However, due to the time constraints and tight schedule of the local authorities as well as project staff at this time of the year, the EM can only conduct a one-day field visit on 26 December 2017 at the project sites and met with the staff of the District Compensation and Site Clearance Boards (DCSCBs) and Commune People’s Committees (CPCs). A meeting is then held at NBLC-EPMU office to (i) discuss the objectives of the monitoring mission; (ii) review the implementation progress of the additional REMDP addenda; (iii) review the progress and status of remaining issues as flagged in the previous monitoring report; and (iv) discuss the field visit results and plan for the post-resettlement evaluation to be conducted in March 2018. The opinions of the NBLC-EPMU regarding the observations and recommendations of the EM are taken into consideration in the preparation of this report.

16. Due to the time constraints, the EM has conducted desk study of nine draft additional REDMP addenda to select the critical areas (that is areas involving land acquisition as opposed to only land use conversion) suitable to one-day field visit. The EM, after screening all draft addenda, has proposed to carry out field visit to the following sites:

(i) Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province: the number of affected households subject to additional land acquisition is large with 83 AHs in one commune, including 80 severely affected households and 10 vulnerable households. In addition, as reported in the last monitoring, an outstanding issue related to request for additional land acquisition of 0.56 ha in Dinh Chu Commune has not been resolved. Therefore, the status of this issue will be verified during this monitoring.

(ii) Duc Bac Commune, Song Lo District, Vinh Phuc Province: the number of affected households is 111, in which 79 AHs are already acquired in the previous land acquisition while 32 are newly affected households. Therefore, the implementation of the addenda for these households, particularly the new AHs, will be monitored to verify the delivery of entitlements and/or any emerging issue related to the affected households.

(iii) Regarding Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province: the number of affected households is also large with 194 households, in which 88 are affected by additional land acquisition, 113 are subject to land use conversion, and seven households by both. However, the EM is in the view that these affected households are scattered in eight communes; among them, the highest number of affected households is 24 in Chau Que Ha Commune as opposed to the number of affected households in Dinh Chu and Duc Bac communes, which are 83 and 111, respectively. In addition, in terms of distance and logistic arrangement, it will be more time-consuming, and thus cannot make use of the

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one-day field visit. (See Appendix 1 for the Mission Itinerary and Appendix 2 for the List of Key Persons Met).

17. In addition to the field visit and meeting with stakeholders, the EM has carried out documentation review of (i) additional REMDP addenda; (ii) payment vouchers of the households; (iii) decisions approving compensation and assistance for the affected agricultural land outside the project land demarcation in Song Lo and Lap Thach districts; and (iv) official letters among the relevant parties regarding the project issues (See Appendix 3 for the List of Reviewed Documentation).

E. Additional REMDP Addenda Implementation

1. Consultation, Participation, and Grievance Redress Mechanism

Information disclosure and public consultation of the First REMDP Addenda in 2016 18. During the preparation of the First REMDP Addenda, public consultation meetings have been conducted during the preparation of the REMDP Addenda. VEC and its Consultant have worked with relevant LARPMUs, DPCs, CPCs and local mass organizations to provide project information and consult with relevant stakeholders and disclose implementation schedule of public consultations to the AHs. The public consultation meetings were held at CPC offices or village cultural houses during August and September 2015. On average, there were three rounds of consultations in each affected commune.

Table 5. Public Consultations and Key Topics During the Preparation of the First REMDP Addenda in 2015 and 2016

Public consultation round Time Topics disclosed and discussed

First round of public consultation

Prior to IOL, SES and RCS Information disclosed and discussed with the AHs and relevant stakeholders included (i) project introduction; (ii) objective and scope of additional land acquisition; and (iii) implementations schedule of IOL, SES, and RCS.

Second round of public consultation

After IOL, SES and RCS were completed

Information disclosed and discussed with AHs and relevant stakeholders included: (i) project introduction; (ii) scope of the additional land acquisition and impacts on land, non-land assets, livelihoods and income of AHs according to IOL results; (iii) entitlements of AHs; (iv) implementation schedule; and (v) grievance redress mechanism. The PIB covering all the information above was provided to all AHs during the preparation of the REMDP Addendum.

Third round of public consultation

After draft REMDP Addenda were prepared

The third round of consultation aimed to: (i) disclose the draft REMDP Addenda; (ii) collect comments of AHs, local authorities and representatives of mass organizations and; (iii) discuss with stakeholders to settle concerns of AHs in order to finalize the draft REDMP Addendum before submission to ADB.

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Source: Compiled from additional REMDP addenda (2016) and information provided through interviews

19. In addition to public meetings, focused group discussions with severely affected households, ethnic minority households and vulnerable households in the affected communes were also organized. The FGDs were implemented in houses of village heads with 4-12 persons per group. Besides, in-depth interviews with village heads and village party secretary were implemented. The content of FGDs and in-depth interviews revolved around: (i) the opinions and concerns of participants about compensation and assistance of the Project; (ii) settling concerns relating to the additional land acquisition; and (iii) monitoring issues arisen during the construction of additional items and project operation.

20. The draft REMDP Addenda in Vietnamese was posted at CPC and other public places in September 2015 and August 2016. Comments of AHs and local authorities on the draft REMDP Addenda have been collected and recorded.

2. Information disclosure and public consultation of the Second REMDP Addenda in 2017

21. During the preparation of the additional REMDP addenda, VEC together with the local governments and the preparation consultant have conducted public consultation activities in October 2017 in the affected communes to disseminate project information and get feedback from the local authorities and affected households. The draft resettlement plan has been disclosed to the affected households through project information booklets (PIBs) describing the scope of impacts, their entitlements, compensation rates, and the grievance redress mechanism. Households have participated in the meetings organized at the CPCs’ offices on additional land acquisition and compensation. Their opinions have been recorded and taken into consideration when preparing the additional addenda.

22. Discussions with the project staff and DCARB members show that measures ensuring public participation included:

• Additional land acquisition announcements through notice boards and public meetings to disclose additional land acquisition areas, compensation rates, and allowances;

• Verification of the DMS results through field survey with the affected households and public posting at the CPCs’ offices;

• Dissemination of project information including project information, entitlement matrix, and implementation schedule through PIBs to the local authorities and affected households; and

• Public posting of the additional REMDP addenda in Vietnamese at public places and distribution of such documents to the district and commune levels.

23. A grievance redress mechanism comprising four steps received and resolved grievances as well as the ADB Accountability Mechanism have been disseminated to the affected households and local authorities through public meetings and PIBs.

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3. Compensation and assistance payment

24. As of December 2017, NBLC-EPMU has fully transferred cash compensation and assistances to the provincial Land Acquisition and Project Management Units (LAPMUs) for payment of permanent acquisition and/or land use change of land area outside the project land demarcation. The payment has been made in accordance with the following decisions:

Vinh Phuc Province

• Decision No. 2116/QD-UBND dated 13 October 2017 by Song Lo District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected agricultural land outside the project land demarcation of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Duc Bac Commune, Song Lo District.

• Decision No. 690/QD-UBND dated 23 June 2017 by Lap Thach District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District.

Phu Tho Province

• Decision No. 629/QD-UBND dated 10 April 2017 by Thanh Ba District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Thanh Xa Commune, Thanh Ba District.

• Decision No. 1235/QD-UBND dated 27 April 2017 by Phu Tho Town People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Ha Loc and Ha Thach communes, Phu Tho Town.

• Decision No. 1574/QD-UBND dated 28 April 2017 by Lam Thao District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Tien Kien Commune, Lam Thao District.

Yen Bai Province

• Decision No. 4269/QD-UBND dated 12 December 2017 by Yen Bai City People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Hop Minh Ward and Au Lau Commune, Yen Bai City.

• Decision No. 3229/QD-UBND dated 13 December 2017 by Van Yen District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in the project communes of Van Yen District District.

• Decisions No. 4508, 4509, 4546, 4547, 4548, 4549, 4550, 4594, 4595, 4609, 4610, 4611, and 4612/QD-UBND dated 11 to 14 December 2017 by Tran Yen District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent

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acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in the project communes of Tran Yen District.

25. Interviews with the NBLC-EPMU staff as well as members of Song Lo and Lap Thach DCARBs showed that the affected households have fully received compensation for their affected land and crops and allowances in November 2017. The households have received compensation and assistances and signed the payment vouchers in accordance with the project regulations. As of now, the households do not have any complaint or query.

26. The compensation, assistance and resettlement for the direct damages of all categories of the project commenced and has been completed by end of December 2017. Based on the additional REMDP addenda and data provided by NBLC-EPMU, the total amount of compensation and assistance for affected households in project was roughly VND 13,441,881,292 (equivalent to $592,806). Table 6 provides total compensation made by province and district.

Table 6. Summary of Compensation and Assistance Payment of the Affected Households of the Second Round of Additional Land Acquisition in 2017

No. District Approved Compensation and Assistance Amount Cost

(Unit: thousand dong) Paid amount Land Crops Allowances Total

I Vinh Phuc Province 1,278,084.5 219,942 3,590,255.55 5,088,282.05 5,088,282.05 1 Song Lo 874,857.5 0 2,457,554.25 3,332,411.75 3,332,411.75 2 Lap Thach 403,227 219,942 1,132,701.3 1,755,870.3 1,755,870.3 II Phu Tho Province 309,677.508 42,931.686 654,725.616 1,007,334.81 1,007,334.81 1 Thanh Ba 16,034.4 2,142.112 42,431.8 60,608.312 60,608.312 2 Phu Tho Town 182,228.508 24,161.789 375,284.616 581,674.913 581,674.913 3 Lam Thao 111,414.6 16,627.785 237,009.2 365,051.585 365,051.585 III Yen Bai Province 3,674,600.65 137,357.157 3,534,306.625 7,346,264.432 7,346,264.432 1 Yen Bai City 281,882 0 0 281,882 281,882 2 Van Yen 2,186,946.1 137,357.157 2,442,750.25 4,767,053.507 4,767,053.507 3 Tran Yen 1,205,772.55 0 1,091,556.375 2,297,328.925 2,297,328.925

TOTAL 5,262,362.66 400,230.843 7,779,287.791 13,441,881.292 13,441,881.292 Source: Data provided by NBLC-EPMU and compiled from additional REMDP addenda, 2017.

27. Regarding the compensation for the affected households under the original scope of impacts (2009-2014) and first round of additional land acquisition (2016), as of now, there is no pending issue related to compensation payment. All of the affected households have fully received compensation and assistance, which are also confirmed and covered in the external monitoring reports and internal monitoring reports during such period, ADB review mission report in April 2017 as well as the third quarter external monitoring report in October 2017. There is no compensation in escrow accounts.

4. Compensation, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation Measures

28. The project’s resettlement and rehabilitation objective is to ensure the restoration and improvement of the income and standards of living of affected households. Local governments have adopted and implemented a range of compensation, resettlement, and rehabilitation

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measures in the REMDP addenda to restore or improve the living standards of the affected households. Table 7 below summarized the measures in the addenda and their implementation status.

Table 7. Compensation and Resettlement Measures

Impact Types Measures in the Additional REMDP Addenda Implementation Status

Land acquisition As a priority, allocation of replacement land with equal features, locations, full titles of both husbands and wives, and without charges and fees OR cash compensation at replacement cost; Economic rehabilitation package for severely affected households Cash compensation for trees and crops Bonus allowance if land is handed over in a timely manner according to province’s regulation

Compensation at market price for affected lands paid. Life stability supports provided; job changing and creation supports provided; vocational training course provided. Cash compensation at market prices for affected crops paid. Bonus allowances for affected households handing over land in a timely manner were provided.

Severely affected households

Assistances to restore livelihoods and incomes following acquisition of agricultural land or other productive assets Participation in the Income Restoration Program (IRP)

Cash assistance equal to 30 kg of rice valued at market price per month per household member for 3 to 12 months depending on land loss ratio were provided. Allowance for life stabilization is equal to 1.5 to 5 times of compensation rate for agricultural land for households losing productive land regardless of severity of impacts. As there is no new severely affected households, all of the severely affected households were confirmed to have already taken part in the IRP delivered by the project.

Vulnerable households (the poor, ethnic minorities, war invalid persons, female headed households with dependents, and the elderly)

Assistance to the poor and vulnerable households to improve their socioeconomic conditions Participation in the Income Restoration Program (IRP)

Vulnerable households were provided with cash assistance equal to VND 12 million. In addition, poor households who are severely affected were entitled to cash assistance for 36 months depending on the land loss ratio. As there is no new vulnerable households, all of these vulnerable households were confirmed to have already taken part in the IRP delivered by the project.

Source: Compiled from additional REMDP addenda (2017) and information provided through interviews

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29. According to ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement (2009) and the Government of Viet Nam’s policies on compensation, assistance and resettlement, the implementation of the REMDP addenda ensured that all affected people were compensated for their damages at replacement cost and proposed life rehabilitation methods to help them to improve or at least maintain living standards and income generation capability to the pre-project level. As presented in the table above, there is no new severely affected households and vulnerable households during this batch of additional acquisition, all of the severely affected households and vulnerable households have already participated in the Income Restoration Program of the project, as confirmed in the additional REMDP addenda as well as NBLC-EPMU project staff.

5. Grievance Redress Mechanism

30. A Grievance Redress Mechanism has been established for the project since 2010. In which, grievances related to any aspect of the Project have been handled through negotiation aimed at achieving consensus. Complaints passed through 4 stages, including commune, district, provincial and court levels as a last resort. All of the complaints related to the original scope of land acquisition have been solved. The complaints and grievance redress results have been detailed in the external monitoring reports by the external monitoring agency and quarterly progress report by the supervision consultant.

31. Regarding the additional land acquisition, as of now, there is no pending grievance except for the issues related to request for additional land acquisition of 0.56 ha in Dinh Chu Commune (Vinh Phuc Province), damaged community infrastructure in Cam Khe District (Phu Tho Province), and erosion issues in the resettlement site in Van Yen District (Yen Bai Province). These pending issues are presented in details in the section below.

6. Income Restoration Program

32. An Income Restoration Program (IRP) has been prepared targeting severely affected households and vulnerable households. The IRP was divided into three main phases, including (i) needs assessment of the affected households; (ii) demonstration phase; and (iii) full implementation phase. The IRP was implemented from 2012 to 2014 for the total 12,548 households in all project provinces with the liquidated amount of VND 125,082,204,353. During the demonstration phase, livelihood models were carried out to evaluate the capacity for income restoration and sustainability of the proposed models. This phase was conducted only for the severely affected households in the affected area. The full implementation phase was then carried out with all the successful models identified during the demonstration phase for all eligible households in the project area. Based on the approved detailed IRPs for the districts, the IRP Management Boards would contract local service providers to supply animals (cows, pigs) and materials (seedlings, fertilizers, goods, etc.), services and support (trainings, job introduction, etc.) for implementation. As assessed, the process of information disclosure about the IRP was performed relatively well through community meetings with eligible households and loudspeaker systems of the communes. The participating households were invited to meetings for information dissemination and participated in the training batches.

33. The IRP implementation procedures are summarized below:

Figure 1. Income Restoration Program Implementation Process

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Source: Compiled from external monitoring reports, 2014

34. As for the additional land acquisition for the construction of frontage roads in 2016, among the affected households, 23 new severely affected households were identified and three new vulnerable households. The other severely affected households and vulnerable households already participated in the IRP in the previous period (2012 to 2014). Therefore, in 2016, there were a total 26 households who were not included in the IRP. However, as the IRP was finished at that time and budget for IRP was liquidated, it was difficult to prepare and implement an IRP for these 26 households. The August 2017 ADB Mission together with VEC and local authorities have discussed and agreed during ADB review mission that these households would be integrated into existing socioeconomic development of the locality as an income restoration support measure. The pending issue related to these households is discussed in more details in the section below.

35. As for the second round of additional land acquisition in 2017 due to cultivation inability caused by construction activities, 210 households are severely affected and 57 are vulnerable households. However, these households are identified to have already participated in the IRP of the project during the 2012 to 2014 period. There is no pending issue related to IRP for these households.

7. Monitoring

36. For the monitoring of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project, VEC recruited an external monitoring agency to (i) verify whether the land acquisition and resettlement activities are in compliance with the project REMDPs; (ii) verify whether the REMDPs together with their identified mitigation measures improve or at least restore the living standards of the affected people to the pre-project level; (iii) assess the efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the

Monitoring and evaluation: VEC through PIRSB would conduct internal monitoring on a semi-annual basis and submit report to ADB.

IRP implementation: the activities are carried out by the DIRMC with support from the PIRSB and VEC consultants. DIRMC would send VEC quarterly progress report.

Review and approval of the IRP activities. VEC would submit the proposed activities to ADB for approval.

Preparation of the work plan and budget

Identification of the IRP acrivities based on needs assessment results. The identified IRP activities would be considered together with the existing programs in the localities.

Conducting of needs assessment

Selection of consultants (agriculture, vocational training, finance) to support the PIRSB & DIRMC

Provision of the training programs for the Boards and Committees on IRP, needs assessment skills, planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Establishment of the PIRSB and DIRMC.

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resettlement activities; and (iv) assess the ethnic minorities and gender issues during the project implementation cycle. The external monitoring consultants were originally mobilized in December 2008 and replaced in March 2016 but VEC has not recruited another consultant to implement the external monitoring. The external monitoring reports, although were submitted to ADB for review and approval, were not disclosed on ADB website, except for the external monitoring reports in June and November 2011. Another external monitoring report covering the REMDP addendum implementation has been submitted and disclosed on ADB website in October 2017.

37. Regarding the internal monitoring, consultants were selected to provide the services of project supervision consulting (PSC) under the project. Resettlement and Social Development Group under PSC is responsible for (i) assist VEC in land acquisition and resettlement, income restoration program, al development activities; and (ii) develop the skills of VEC staff on land acquisition and resettlement, social development assistance. The Resettlement and Social Development Group would submit internal monitoring reports to ADB on a quarterly basis. The internal monitoring reports, similarly to the above, were submitted but not disclosed on ADB website, except for the monitoring reports covering the period from April-June 2013, October-December 2013, and October-December 2014. Another internal monitoring report was submitted by VEC and disclosed on ADB website in August 2017 for the REMDP addendum implementation.

F. Pending Issues and Action Plan

38. The following section will discuss the status of pending issues as well as the corresponding solutions. Furthermore, recommendations are made by the external monitor on safeguard compliance with the proposed time-bound actions in the yellow boxes after each discussed issue.

1. Compensation payment

39. As reported in the previous external monitoring, three households ([This information has been removed as it falls within exceptions to disclosure specified in paragraph 97, (exception (x) Information that, if disclosed, would or would be likely to endanger the life, health, safety, or security of any individual, or safety or security of ADB assets, or to prejudice the defense or national security of a member) of ADB’s Public Communications Policy (2011)) in the area had not received compensation and assistances for impacts caused by construction activities. According to the Hop Minh ward authorities, the houses of these three households developed cracking due to the construction vibration of heavy machines (dozers and rollers).

40. According to NBLC-EPMU staff and payment vouchers with signatures of the affected households, the payment has been made for these three households on 17 November 2017 with the participation of the representatives of NBLC-EPMU, civil work contractor, Hop Minh Ward People’s Committee, and the three affected households. A total amount of VND 20,687,000 has been delivered to the households for their impacts on residential structures during construction period.

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Recommendations: No recommendation as the pending issue related to compensation payment for the three households in Hop Minh Ward, Yen Bai Province as pointed out in the third quarter external monitoring report have been solved by NBLC-EPMU and civil work contractor in November 2017.

2. Request for additional land acquisition

41. As stated above, the purpose of the field visit, apart from verification of the status of the additional REMDP addenda implementation, is also to verify the status of the issue regarding additional land acquisition raised by affected households and local authorities in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province. As discussed in the previous external monitoring report, two areas in Dong Dep (1.3 ha) and Dong Cham (0.56 ha) of the commune were affected by the construction activities, causing inundation and inability of farming activities on these areas. Therefore, land would be acquired and/or subject to changes of land use purpose. While the area in Dong Dep (1.3 ha) was surveyed and accepted by VEC and relevant agencies to be covered in this additional land acquisition (has been included in the additional REMDP Addendum for Lap Thach District), 0.56 ha of land in Dong Cham was still being raised by the affected households and commune leaders.

42. As reported by NBLC-EPMU staff, VEC was aware of the situation and had worked with the commune and relevant departments for the solution. The results of the field survey carried out by VEC together with Vinh Phuc Provincial Department of Transportation, Lap Thach DPC, and Dinh Chu CPC showed that according to the design, the box culvert at Km40+262 was designed for drainage purpose of Dong Cham area. The field survey shows that this culvert was operational and still ensured the drainage. However, the upstream area of the box culvert was connected to about 20m of the canal of Dinh Chu Commune and the downstream was connected to the existing canal system passing through Xa Phung Hamlet of Van Quan Commune. However, both canals were not working effectively, particularly the canal in the downstream, which was among the main reasons for drainage blockage of 0.56 ha of Dong Cham area. In order to have the formal basis to determine whether the Dong Cham area was eligible for additional land acquisition and/or land use purpose conversion, VEC requested Lap Thach DPC and Dinh Chu CPC to instruct the dredging of these two upstream and downstream canals (per the Official Letter No. 157/EPMUNBLC-VP dated 11 March 2016 and Minute of Field Survey dated 22 March 2016). In addition, VEC requested Lap Thach DPC and Dinh Chu CPC to provide the design dossier of the drainage canals in the downstream and upstream areas of the box culvert at Km40+262 to have the basis for comparing with the current elevation. However, as of now, the local governments have not carried out the actions as requested by VEC in order to form the official basis for land acquisition and/or change of land use purposes for Dong Cham area.

Recommendations: It is recommended that an official response by VEC regarding the status of Dong Cham area should be sent to the local authorities and communities to explain the insufficient basis for the area to be included in additional acquisition before 30 April 2018 at the latest. This issue should be explained and solved thoroughly to avoid the prolongation that causes concerns and dissatisfaction among people.

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3. Erosion in Resettlement Site

43. As reported in the REMDP Addendum implementation report in February 2017 as well as previous external monitoring report, six households ([This information has been removed as it falls within exceptions to disclosure specified in paragraph 97, (exception (x) Information that, if disclosed, would or would be likely to endanger the life, health, safety, or security of any individual, or safety or security of ADB assets, or to prejudice the defense or national security of a member) of ADB’s Public Communications Policy (2011)) in An Thinh Commune, Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province complained that the received plot in the resettlement site was eroded and thus requested the LAPMU of Yen Bai Province to either (i) cut the area close to the erosion part and allocate the household with additional area of the adjacent plot; or (ii) fix the site.

44. Dai An Resettlement Site located in Dai An Village, An Thinh Commune, Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province was arranged for 24 households and the land plots of 300m2 to 400m2 were allocated to the affected households of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project3. The affected households have received resettlement land plots since 2011 and 2012 and the resettlement site has been accepted and handed over to the local authorities. As of now, the warranty period has been expired. Therefore, the verification of the land erosion and/or impacts caused by natural disasters at the site shall rest with the local authorities. According to NBLC-EPMU staff, VEC has issued an official letter to Yen Bai LAPMU and Van Yen district regarding this matter and requested the relevant parties to assess the site and hold discussions with the affected households.

Recommendations: Since the assessment at the site rests with the local authorities, it is recommended that VEC will monitor this issue closely and include the progress and results and/or agreement reached in the next social monitoring report (to be submitted in January 2018).

4. Income Restoration Measures

45. At the monitoring time, income restoration measures have not been implemented for 26 households, including 23 new severely affected households and three vulnerable households. Per the REMDP Addendums prepared for each district/city, these households were eligible to participate in the Income Restoration Program (IRP) of the Project; however, as the budget for IRP has been liquidated and it is difficult, particularly in terms of procedures, to prepare and implement an IRP for just 26 households, it was advised and agreed that livelihood restoration support would be provided to these households through integration into existing socioeconomic development or rural development programs within the province. The supports

3 The area of land plot for resettlement arrangement depends on the household size.

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would be covered by the budget of these programs being managed by the province and concerned districts4.

46. The EM has discussed with NBLC-EPMU staff and been provided with official letters sent by Yen Bai Provincial People’s Committee, Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee, and Phu Ninh District Income Restoration Program Management Board, agreeing that the IRP in the provinces is closed and committing that the remaining eligible households who have not participated in the IRP will be included in other suitable programs of the localities.

47. The EM, nevertheless, is of the view that as the number of households was small and scattered in different villages and communes, it might be a challenge to integrate all of them into the local programs. While it might be easier in some communes, for example, the communes that were included in the existing government’s support programs, such as Program 135, and thus had more socioeconomic development supports. In other communes, the integration would face more difficulties because (i) the households did not belong to the list of beneficiary households of government’s social policies; and (ii) there was no suitable program in place for these households.

Recommendations: Regarding the integration of the eligible affected households into the local socioeconomic development and/or rural development programs, VEC should continue monitoring the inclusion of these households into the local programs as committed by the local governments and reporting the result to ADB before 30 April 2018.

5. Restoration of Damaged Community Infrastructure

48. As reported in the previous monitoring, the issue related to restoration of damaged community infrastructure was raised in Cam Khe District in Phu Tho Province. As of now, the warranty period (two years) was expired, the community infrastructure (irrigation canals and local roads) has been checked and handed over to the local communities for operation and maintenance. For the box culverts and underpasses, VEC Operation and Maintenance (VEC O&M) is the responsible unit for regular maintenance.

49. The issue flagged in the previous monitoring is the restoration of 150m of inland pathway/road (Km 82+940 to Km83+165). After working with the local governments, on 19 December 2017, VEC has received an official letter from Phung Xa CPC (official letter No. 179/CV-UBND dated 19 December 2017) confirmed that the local communities were using an existing pathway to the paddy field close to the counterweight berm located to the left of the road, which still ensured the agricultural production and daily activities of local people. The project did not adversely affect and/or disrupt such activities of the communities.

Recommendations: VEC should disclose contact information and responsibilities of VEC O&M (in official written document) to the local authorities and communities to contact for

4 The recommendations, discussions, and agreements were reflected in the REMDP Addendum Implementation Report in February 2017 as well as in the Aide Memoir signed between ADB and VEC in August 2017.

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regular maintenance and impacts/incidences during the operation of the works. In which, the responsibilities for operation and maintenance of the infrastructure should be clarified between VEC O&M and the local authorities for irrigation canal, local roads, box culverts, and underpasses.

VEC to provide ADB with the status of actions already taken per the agreement letter signed by VEC and other stakeholders dated 12 July 2014, as well as what actions still need to be done to ensure the restoration of community infrastructure damaged by project construction activities. An official response to Cam Khe District on such issues should also be provided to ADB, as agreed during the review mission conducted in November 2017. These actions should be done before 30 April 2018 at the latest.

6. Monitoring

50. As discussed above, due to the limited resources of VEC and displacement of the original external monitoring consultants, internal and external monitoring have not been prepared and submitted periodically. It is also noted that a number of submitted external and internal monitoring reports have not been disclosed on ADB website.

Recommendations: VEC to continue preparing and submitting internal social monitoring reports covering the fourth quarter of 2017 to ADB for review and approval by mid-January 2018.

ADB should disclose the submitted internal and external monitoring reports during the project implementation cycle on ADB’s website for disclosure purpose.

G. Conclusion and Program for the Next Monitoring Field Visit

51. The next monitoring field visit, that is post-resettlement evaluation, will be conducted in March 2018 to assess the overall resettlement implementation of the REMDP addenda after the project completion.

H. Appendix

1. Itinerary of the External Monitoring Field Visit

Date Activities*

26 December 2017 (AM)

Travel to Vinh Phuc Province - Work with Lap Thach DCARB - Visit Dinh Chu CPC and affected households

(PM) Work with Song Lo DCARB, visit Duc Bac CPC and affected households Briefing meeting with VEC & Noi Bai-Lao Cai EPMU

5 working days Prepare the external monitoring report

2. List of Persons Met

No. Name Position Organization/Area I NBLC-EPMU 1 Dao Van Tuan Director NBLC-EPMU

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2 Tran Dinh Toan Head of Construction Management Department NBLC-EPMU

3 Le Anh Quan Official NBLC-EPMU II Vinh Phuc Province 5 Pham Van Hoa Official of District Compensation

Board Lap Thach District

6 Hoang Van Kiem CPC Chairman Dinh Chu Commune 7 Dao Van Anh Cadastral official Dinh Chu Commune

8 Le Dang Tam Head of Natural Resources and Environment Division Song Lo District People’s Committee

3. List of Documentation Reviewed

(i) Memorandum of Understanding of Review Mission for Loans 2391/2392/3207/3208/3209-VIE: Greater Mekong Subregion Kunming-Hai Phong Transport Corridor-Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project dated 13-17 November 2017.

(ii) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province, December 2017.

(iii) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Song Lo District, Vinh Phuc Province, December 2017.

(iv) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Phu Tho Town, Phu Tho Province, December 2017.

(v) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Thanh Ba District, Phu Tho Province, December 2017.

(vi) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province, December 2017.

(vii) Draft Second Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Bao Yen District, Lao Cai Province, December 2017.

(viii) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Van Yen District, Yen Bai Province, December 2017.

(ix) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Tran Yen District, Yen Bai Province, December 2017.

(x) Draft Addendum Resettlement and Ethnic Minority Development Plan for Yen Bai City, Yen Bai Province, December 2017.

(xi) Official Letter No. 3683/VEC-TCKT by VEC dated 13 November 2017 on advance payment for compensation and land acquisition activities in the project area in Vinh Phuc Province.

(xii) Official Letter No. 4050/VEC-TCKT by VEC dated 13 December 2017 on advance payment for compensation and land acquisition activities in the project area in Vinh Phuc Province.

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(xiii) Official Letter No. 4167/VEC-TCKT by VEC dated 21 December 2017 on advance payment for compensation and land acquisition activities in the project area in Yen Bai Province.

(xiv) Official Letter No. 3865/VEC-TCKT by VEC dated 29 November 2017 on advance payment for compensation and land acquisition activities in the project area in Phu Tho Province.

(xv) Decision No. 2116/QD-UBND dated 13 October 2017 by Song Lo District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected agricultural land outside the project land demarcation of Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Duc Bac Commune, Song Lo District.

(xvi) Decision No. 1809/QD-UBND dated 8 September 2017 by Song Lo District People’s Committee approving the adjustment coefficient for land prices, specific land prices to calculate compensation upon land recovery by the state in Song Lo area (third batch, 2017).

(xvii) Decision No. 690/QD-UBND dated 23 June 2017 by Lap Thach District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District.

(xviii) Decision No. 629/QD-UBND dated 10 April 2017 by Thanh Ba District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Thanh Xa Commune, Thanh Ba District.

(xix) Decision No. 1235/QD-UBND dated 27 April 2017 by Phu Tho Town People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Ha Loc and Ha Thach communes, Phu Tho Town.

(xx) Decision No. 1574/QD-UBND dated 28 April 2017 by Lam Thao District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Tien Kien Commune, Lam Thao District.

(xxi) Decision No. 4269/QD-UBND dated 12 December 2017 by Yen Bai City People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in Hop Minh Ward and Au Lau Commune, Yen Bai City.

(xxii) Decision No. 3229/QD-UBND dated 13 December 2017 by Van Yen District People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in the project communes of Van Yen District District.

(xxiii) Decisions No. 4508, 4509, 4546, 4547, 4548, 4549, 4550, 4594, 4595, 4609, 4610, 4611, and 4612/QD-UBND dated 11 to 14 December 2017 by Tran Yen District

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People’s Committee approving compensation and assistance for permanent acquisition of affected land for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway Project in the project communes of Tran Yen District.

(xxiv) Official Letter No. 1031/NEPMU-QLTC dated 18 December 2017 by NBLC-EPMU to Phung Xa CPC regarding the current status of infield pathway to serve production at the Km82+940-Km83+165 to the left of the route in Phung Xa Commune.

(xxv) Official Letter No. 179/CV-UBND dated 19 December 2017 by Phung Xa CPC to NBLC-EPMU regarding the current status of infield pathway to serve production at the Km82+940-Km83+165 to the left of the route in Phung Xa Commune.

(xxvi) Official Letter No. 6132/UBND-QLDT dated 21 December 2017 by Lao Cai PPC regarding some cases eligible for Income Restoration Program after additional land acquisition for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project.

(xxvii) Official Letter No. 2767/UBND-XD dated 12 December 2017 by Yen Bai PPC agreeing to stop the implementation of income restoration program for some cases after additional land acquisition for Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project.

(xxviii) Official Letter No. 04/BQLDA-PHTN dated 28 November 2017 by Phu Ninh District Income Restoration Project Management Board agreeing to stop the implementation of income restoration program for additional households affected by additional land acquisition.

(xxix) Official Letter No. 157/EPMUNBLC-VP dated 11 March 2016 by VEC regarding the inundation issues in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province.

(xxx) Minutes of work to solve the request of Dinh Chu CPC regarding impacts caused by Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway Project dated 22 March 2016 between VEC, Vinh Phuc Department of Transportation, Lap Thach DPC, and Dinh Chu CPC.

(xxxi) Official Letter No. 251/EPMUNBLC-VP dated 19 April 2016 by VEC regarding the solutions to inundation issues in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province.

(xxxii) Official Letter No. 334/EPMUNBLC-VP dated 18 May 2016 by VEC regarding the solutions to inundation issues in Dinh Chu Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province.

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