An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Summary

An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Summary Project Name: AGEREMARIAM-MOYALE ROAD UPGRADING PROJECT Country: ETHIOPIA Project Number: 1. Introduction The Ageremariam – Moyale road is part of Addis Ababa – Moyale trunk road and is approximately 300km long. Besides that, it is part of the Trans-African Highway n°4, the Cairo-Gaborone-Cape Town highway, covering a total of more than 10,000km and linking Addis Ababa with Kenya and the port of Mombasa. The Kenyan section, from Moyale to Isiolo and Nairobi, is under rehabilitation and thus the rehabilitation of the Ethiopian part, will complete the upgrading/rehabilitation of the link Addis-Mombasa. The rehabilitation of Ageremariam – Moyale road is a continuation of Government efforts to improve the standard of Trans-East African Highway as a member of COMESA countries and its import-export corridors to minimize the cost of its transit traffic. This report deals with Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) of the proposed upgrading of the Ageremariam – Moyale road, and it was carried out by AIC PROGETTI in association with SABA Engineering Plc. Implementation of the road project will be sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB). This ESIA Summary is structured in ten sections. Section 1 introduces the road project and the ESIA study, while Section 2 briefly describes the project area, the proposed project features and justifications for the road upgrading project. Section 3 summarises the policy, legal and administrative framework within which the ESIA was carried out, including the environmental and social impact assessment requirements of the AfDB Group. Section 4 provides a brief description of the main physical, biological and socio-economic conditions prevailing in the road project area, whereas Section 5 discusses the alternatives considered to achieve the project objectives. On the basis of evaluation of the baseline environmental condition and the proposed project activities, Section 6 presents the analysis of potential positive and negative environmental impacts of the road upgrading project and the proposed mitigation measures for the adverse impacts. Section 7 provides the Environmental Management Plan considered in the ESIA, whereas Section 8 indicates the proposed monitoring activities. Section 9 presents the stakeholders and public consultations conducted during the course of the ESIA and outlines the main findings of the consultations. The ESIA Summary concludes with Section 11, which presents the conclusions drawn from the ESIA study including the environmental and social acceptability of the proposed road upgrading project. 2. Project Description and Justification The Ageremariam – Moyale Road is located in southern part of Ethiopia. The project road starts at Ageremariam town, which is located at 467km from Addis Ababa, and connects five 1 districts/woredas of the Borena Zone of the Oromia National Regional State (NRS) before it terminates at Moyale town, at the Ethio-Kenya border. The Ageremariam – Moyale road project is part of Addis Ababa – Moyale trunk road which serves as import-export corridor and part of Trans-East African Highway and it also connects southern part of Ethiopia which is an important coffee growing part of the country with the regional and national capital, Awassa and Addis Ababa respectively. Rehabilitation of Ageremariam – Moyale road is a continuation of Government efforts to improve the standard of Trans-East African Highway as a member of COMESA countries. The existing Ageremariam – Moyale road was built several years ago with double surface treatment and currently serves moderate level of traffic and the traffic volume on the road is expected to increase in the near future when the country commence to use Kenya’s port of Mombassa when the upgrading of the Isiolo-Moyale road to bitumen road which provides short cut to the port is completed. The existing road has a carriageway width variable between 5.5m and 7m, being the shoulders almost inexistent in many sections. The road will be upgraded to have a 7m carriageway and two shoulders of 1.5m each for a total 10m wide platform. A total variable widening of 3-5m of the existing carriageway is thus required. It will have a 50m right-of-way in rural sections and a 30m in town sections. The road upgrading will involve replacement of 220 existing pipe culverts and 69 box/slab culverts, extension of 108 existing pipe culverts and 45 box/slab culverts, and construction of 15 new pipe culverts and 1 box culvert, It will also involve construction of 247.61km of paved roadside ditches and 195.68km of unpaved side ditches. Moreover, it will involve utilization of quite large amounts of construction materials (select materials, natural gravel, stone quarries, sand, water, bitumen/asphalt), a large number of heavy equipment and vehicles (mainly dump trucks), hazardous substances like fuel and oils, and establishment and operation of several contractors’ site facilities. All these and other activities to be involved in the road construction works are likely to result in a variety of adverse environmental and social impacts. Therefore, the need to carry out ESIA is indispensable to ensure the environmental and social acceptability of the road project. Economic analysis has shown that the proposed upgrading of the Ageremariam – Moyale road will be economically viable in the recommended option. The carriage width of the existing road is narrow and most portion of the road is badly deteriorated. This has a significant impact on the road transport, which in turn is likely to significantly affect national as well as local socio-economic activities. In particular it would impact on the trade activities between Ethiopia and Kenya. Therefore, there is a need to improve the infrastructure as part of the Federal Road Network, the Trans-East African Highway and its import-export corridors to minimize the cost of its transit traffic and to serve the population directly served by the project road. Ultimately, the social and economic transformation obtained from this project is expected to be significant. This ESIA study concluded that there are no environmental or social grounds for not proceeding to the implementation of the Ageremariam - Moyale Road Upgrading Project provided that the recommended environmental and social mitigation measures are properly implemented and monitored. 3. Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework The Constitution of Ethiopia adopted in August 1995 requires current and future legislation and the conduct of government to conform to a bill of rights. The concepts of sustainable development and environment rights are entrenched in the rights of the people of Ethiopia through Articles 43 2 and 44, which state among others the right to development and the right to live in a clean and healthy environment. The Environmental Policy of Ethiopia (EPE), issued in April 1997, supports Constitutional Rights and its overall policy goal is to improve and enhance the health and quality of life of all Ethiopians, to promote sustainable social and economic development through sound management and use of natural, human-made and cultural resources. The EIA policies, included in the cross-sectoral environmental policies, emphasis the early recognition of environmental issues in project planning, public participation, mitigation and environmental management, and capacity building at all levels of administration. In addition, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) has issued several Proclamations that are aimed to foster environmental protection and sustainable use of the Country’s natural as well as human-made resources. Among these legislations are the Proclamation on EIA and the Proclamation on Environmental Pollution Control (EPC), both came into effect in 2002. The EIA Proclamation makes an EIA mandatory for specified categories of activities undertaken either by the public or private sectors and is the legal tool for environmental planning, management and monitoring. The primary objective of the EPC Proclamation is to provide the basis from which the relevant ambient environmental standards applicable to Ethiopia can be developed, and to make the violation of these standards a punishable act. The other very pertinent legal document is the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group’s Policy on the Environment, issued in February 2004, and it redefines the AfDB Group Policy on environmentally sustainable development in Africa. The overall goals that the new Policy is set to achieve are (i) the improvement of the overall quality of life of the people of Africa by supporting an environmentally sustainable development path, and (ii) the preservation and enhancement of the ecological capital and life-support systems across the continent of Africa. A major environmental assessment task in project lending operations of AfDB is the screening of projects to determine to which environmental category a project shall be assigned. Projects shall be mandatorily assigned to one of the following four categories: • Category 1 projects will require a full ESIA, including the preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). These projects are likely to induce important adverse environmental and/or social impacts that are irreversible, or to significantly affect environmental or social components considered sensitive by the Bank or the borrowing country. The ESIA examines the project’s potential beneficial and adverse impacts, compares them with those of feasible alternatives (including the “without project” scenario), and recommends any measures needed to prevent, minimise, mitigate or compensate for the adverse impacts and to enhance environmental and social project benefits. Category 2 projects require the development of ESMP. These projects are likely to have detrimental and site-specific environmental and/or social impacts that are less adverse than those of Category 1 projects and that can be minimized by the application of mitigation measures or the incorporation of internationally recognized design criteria and standards. Category 3 projects require no impact assessment. These projects shall involve no adverse physical intervention in the environment and induce no adverse environmental or social impact. Beyond categorisation, no further ESA action is required for this category of project. 3 • • • Category 4 projects involve investment of Bank’s funds through Financial Intermediaries (FIs) in subprojects that may result in adverse environmental and/or social impacts. FIs include among others banks, insurance and leasing companies, and investment funds that on-lend Bank’s funds to small and medium size enterprises. According to the AfDB Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) Checklist, the proposed Ageremariam – Moyale road upgrading project would fall into Category I type projects. More specifically, large-scale road construction, upgrading and major rehabilitation would fall into Category I. Furthermore, other relevant legislations, the National Environmental Protection Authority’s EIA Guidelines, Ethiopian Roads Authority’s Environmental Procedures Manual, and Environmental Institutions have been reviewed and incorporated into the ESIA Report. 4. Description of the Project Environment 4.1 Physical Environment The topography over which the project road passes is predominantly flat followed by rolling terrain. About 91% of the first 84km section of the road passes through a landscape with rolling terrain, whereas about 92% of the section from km 84 to Moyale runs through flat terrain areas. The predominant soil formation along the project road is brownish to red silty clay soils. At present soil erosion is not a major problem in most places along the project road. However, serious gully formation is observed along several stretches of the road mostly along the roadside ditches. The project road is located in two climatic zones. The Hageremriam - Yabello section falls in warm temperate climate, whereas the Yabello - Moyale section falls in hot semi-arid climate zone. The project area is characterized by two wet seasons - March to May and September to November. The intensity of the first wet period, with a peak in April, is generally higher than the second period which has a peak in October. Spatially, the northern part/ Ageremariam area receives the highest rainfall with mean annual values of around 1000mm and the southern part receives the lowest rainfall with mean annual values of around 400mm. The project road does not cross any major river that has perennial flows, and all the streams crossed by the project road have seasonal or ephemeral flows. The predominant land cover along the route corridor is bush land and woodland. In addition, there is dense plantation forest and natural forest along the road at about km 6 -10 and km 11 – 17 respectively. These forest areas form part of the Megeda Regional Priority Forest Area (RPFA). The dominant land cover type along km 17 - 62 is broadleaved deciduous woodland which is in some places mixed or interspersed with Acacia woodland. The corridor of the section from km 62 to Moyale is predominately covered by Acacia woodland and bush land, which is interspersed by grasslands. 4.2 Biological Environment The natural vegetation of the project area can be classified into three vegetation types. These are high forest, mixed broadleaved deciduous woodland and Acacia woodland, and Acacia woodland and bush land. The high forest land is found along km 6 – 17 and is a mixture of natural forest and 4 plantation forest. The broadleaved deciduous woodland, which is mostly either mixed or interspersed with Acacia woodland and bush land, dominantly covers the corridor of the section from km 17 to km 62. Acacia woodland and bush land, which is interspersed by grasslands in some areas, predominantly covers the corridor of the section from km 62 to end of the project. The ecosystem of the project area is important in terms of wildlife biodiversity conservation. Two types of wildlife conservation areas are traversed by the project road. These are Yabello Wildlife Sanctuary (WS) and Borena Controlled Hunting Area (CHA). The section from about km 55 to km 85 crosses through the Sanctuary, and the section from Yabello to Moyale is located within the CHA. 4.3 Socio-economic Environment The total population of the woredas of the project area is estimated to be 639,389. The urban population were 106,366, which is 16.6% of the total population. In the affected woredas there are 105,058 households implying average family size of 5. High proportion of female headed households (43%) is observed in the affected woredas. The majority of population in the project affected woredas comprises of Oromo (80%) followed Somali and Gedo ethnic groups respectively. Livestock husbandry plays the greatest role in the livelihood across the wealth groups in the pastoral communities. The total livestock population in the five woredas is estimated to be 1,440,356, of which cattle account for 54% and sheep 31%. Herd mobility is the main strategy used by pastoralists to manage risk and use the rangeland resources communally and efficiently. Crop production is getting momentum as a means of income diversification. Apparently, depending just on livestock production is no more the sole means of livelihood for the pastoral community. Women’s participation in this type of business activities is also increasing. The income earned in this practice improved decision making power of women. 5. Project Alternatives In terms of route option, the existing road was found to be technically, economically, and socioenvironmentally the most feasible route to achieve the project objectives. There is no reasonable alternative route to the existing road alignment to achieve the project objectives. In terms of rightof-way (ROW), however, two alternatives have been considered. According to the ERA Design Manual, the ROW for the design standards selected for the proposed road upgrading project is 50m corridor. Nevertheless, the ESIA has identified very high social and economic disruptions in towns and villages along the road (due to demolishment of residential and business houses), relocation of public utilities, and damages to a significant portion of the protected forest at km 6 – 17 if the 50m ROW is considered. Therefore, a reduced ROW, like 30m corridor or even lesser width if feasible, is recommended to be adopted for the sections crossing towns, villages and other sensitive areas like the protected forest mentioned above. From a purely environmental stand point, the “no action” option is preferable to implementation of the project, since it would avoid causing of any of the adverse impacts associated with the road upgrading activities. However, the potential social and economic benefits to the local population as well as the nation would be foregone. The project road has local, national as well as international importance. It connects five districts (woredas), several towns and many villages and provides 5 international connection to Kenya through Moyale. Therefore, from social and economic viewpoint, the “without investment” option is inappropriate. 6. Potential Impacts and Mitigation/Enhancement Measures 6.1 Positive Impacts Implementation of the Ageremariam – Moyale road upgrading project will bring a number important positive impacts if appropriate mitigation and enhancement measures are sufficiently integrated in the design and execution of the road project. The main potential positive environmental impacts of the envisaged road upgrading project include the following: The upgraded road with increased carriage width, improved geometry, proper crown and smoothened surfaces, and efficient drainage structures, will likely improve the drainage across and alongside the road, thus minimizing erosion and siltation problems during the operation phase. Together, these measures will improve traffic conditions and reduce hazards for both motorised and non-motorised traffic. The upgraded road will be with better geometry and smoother surfaces, which will facilitate traffic flows at the design speed and enhance safety. The project is expected to improve or widen the existing carriageway and right-of-way. This will provide a better sight distance to drivers and reduce the danger to pedestrians and animals. The road upgrading project is expected to reclaim the existing gully erosion along some sections of the road. Some of these gully formations are presenting risks and obstructions to movement of people and animals in the area. Due to better surface with improved road, there will likely be reduced vehicle-operating costs, saving the need for imports of spare parts, and savings in travel time. Upgrading of the road will enhance the development of the local as well as national economy and contribute to the improvement of the socio-economic condition of the population within the influence areas. 6.2 Adverse Impacts The significant adverse environmental impacts that are likely to result from the road upgrading project and its subsequent operation, and their main mitigation measures include the following: (i) Soil erosion, compaction and pollution resulting from land clearing and grubbing, extraction of construction materials, compaction by heavy equipment, use of detours and access roads, and spillage of hazardous substances like fuel and oils. The potential impacts can be minimized by limiting land clearing to the imperative area for the project, applying half-way construction method, adjusting the road construction for the dry season, lining the side and diversion drains with existing or potential gully erosion, establishing vegetation or grasses on ground surfaces exposed to water or wind erosion, and restoring borrow pits, detours and access roads when construction is completed. 6 (ii) Negative visual impacts/landscape quality emanating from clearance of vegetation, exploitation of quarries and borrow pits, and side-tipping of spoil materials from road cuts. This impact can be mitigated through stockpiling spoil/excess materials at proper sites and utilising them in back-filling of quarries or borrow pits, and restoration of borrow pits and quarries through back-filling, landscaping and by re-establishing vegetation cover. (iii) Impacts on water resources including sedimentation and water pollution as a result of excavation for foundation of culverts, spillage of hazardous substances, and conflicts over water with existing users. Recommended mitigation measures include carrying out cross-drainage works during the dry season, proper storage and handling of hazardous substances, and developing water supply sources for the construction works and the campsite requirements to avoid competition with the local communities and their animals. (iv) Air and noise pollution stemming from dust, exhaust emissions and noise generated mainly during the earth moving activities, hauling of construction materials, and aggregate production. Those potential impacts can be reduced by restricting traffic speeds and regular watering of detours and other active construction sites, regular and effective maintenance of construction equipment and vehicles, and locating contractor’s site establishments away from sensitive receptors like villages & towns, water sources, schools, health units and religious sites etc. (v) Deforestation/damages of natural vegetation caused by vegetation clearance during widening of the road, construction of detour roads, exploitation of material sources and contractor’s site establishments (campsites, aggregate production & asphalt mixing plants). The potential impacts can be minimized through application of half-way construction method, adopting reduced right-of-way for the sections passing through protected forest (km 6 -17), careful siting of material sources & contractor’s site facilities by strictly avoiding forest lands & dense woodlands, replanting areas affected by temporary uses like borrow sites, campsites & access roads, and prohibiting cutting of vegetation by the construction workforce. (vi) Impacts on wildlife related to increased disturbance of habitats, disruption of wildlife movements across the road, and increased animal fatalities mainly in relation to extraction and haulage of construction materials, execution of construction works, increasing of traffic volume and speed (during operation phase), and obstructions caused by the sections in high fill. The impacts can be minimized through avoidance of locating quarry & borrow sites and contractor’s site facilities in major wildlife areas esp. in Yabelo WS & parts of Borena CHA, erecting appropriate signs to increase the awareness of drivers & equipment operators towards wildlife conservation to minimize wildlife killings. (vii) Increased accident and public health risks to roadside communities and project workers mainly in relation to increased vehicular traffic volume especially dump trucks hauling materials during construction, and increased traffic volume and speed during the operation period; and increased accident risks to domestic animals. Potential impacts can be reduced by establishing traffic management plan that includes erecting clearly visible warning signs, reducing traffic speed, sensitizing the drivers involved on the project to the need to employ safe driving practices etc., and regulating the passage of vehicles by assigning traffic controllers; reducing dust levels by suitable palliative measures; raising the awareness of workers towards safety and health issues and provision of protective clothing for workers; and provision of health education on how to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and provision of protectives like condoms. 7 Most of these potential impacts will be temporary and reversible nature as they result from earthwork activities, operation of construction equipment and vehicles, extraction and hauling of materials, processing and storage of construction materials, and establishment and operation contractor’s site facilities. However, some impacts will be permanent mainly related to operation of the road. 7. Environmental Hazard Management The proposed road upgrading project is not expected to involve any major technological accident risks. However, the ESIA study has included an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that comprises the set of mitigation, monitoring and institutional actions to be taken during the detailed design, preparation for implementation, construction and operation stages of the project to eliminate, reduce or offset the potential adverse environmental and social impacts. Details of the environmental management measures to be implemented during each phase of the project are discussed in the full EIA Report. It is estimated that about 13.44 Million Birr is required to cover the costs of environmental mitigation measures, capacity building and monitoring plan, while the costs related to physical construction works, which have both environmental and engineering purposes, are referred to be included in the engineering cost estimates. The costs related to relocation or compensation of project affected people and public utilities are given in the Resettlement Action Plan. 8. Monitoring Program Environmental monitoring will be required both during the implementation and operation phases of the project to ensure the proper implementation of the EIA recommendations. Environmental monitoring helps to detect the scale and extent of impacts caused by the project over time and to assess whether mitigation actions have been properly and timely implemented and are working as expected. Monitoring of environmental parameters will identify potential problems from the road development activities and will allow for prompt implementation of effective corrective measures. The major issues that need to be monitored include, but not limited to, land acquisition and restoration after completion of works, location and operation of material sources and hauling condition, establishment and operation of contractor’s site facilities, soil erosion and siltation, drainage, water pollution, and impacts on water supply of existing users/competition for water, waste management or disposal, effects on flora and fauna and road and traffic safety issues. Details of the proposed environmental monitoring plan are presented in the full EIA Report. 9. Public Consultations and Public Disclosure Formal as well as informal consultations were made during the environmental field visit along the Ageremariam – Moyale road. Informal discussions and interviews were made with key officials and experts of zonal and woreda level offices, as well as local people met along the project road. Formal consultations were conducted at the meetings held at four key locations, Ageremariam and Dubuluk towns, and Dharitu and Dida Mega villages. Representatives of different groups such as woreda and kebele administrations, woreda sector offices, and community representatives including elders, women and youth were participated at the public consultations. 8 The main findings of the stakeholders and public consultations include the following: The project area has very high livestock population, and the project road is the only major outlet for export or domestic market. Therefore, upgrading of the road will be critically important for the development of the agriculture sector/local economy and improvement of the socio-economic status of the local population. Most portion of the road is badly deteriorated and requires major maintenance or upgrading. In addition, the existing carriage width is narrow. Livestock and wild animals are occasionally killed while they are crossing or moving along the road due to collisions with vehicular traffic on the road. The problem is more serious at locations where animals congregate for drinking water. Critical locations include km 79, km 197 and km 220. The road construction activities may cause a number of adverse impacts including deforestation and loss of rangelands, increased disturbance and killings of wildlife; increased accident risks to pedestrians and livestock; impediments to movements of livestock caused by sections in high fill; and annoyance caused by dust pollution. Therefore, mitigation or compensation measures are required to reduce the above indicated and other potential impacts of the road construction activities. The key stakeholders and local people expressed their willingness to contribute what necessary from them to facilitate the project implementation and the project was highly accepted by the consulted groups. Upgrading of the road is seen to facilitate public and commodities transportation and access for livestock market, promote trade, create more conducive environment for economic and social development activities, and promote the development of local as well as national economy. It was recommended that the road is upgraded following the existing route so that all the towns and villages along the existing road are connected. However, improvements as per the required design standards are accepted. The issues raised during the consultations and the information provided were considered during the impact analysis, and technical issues have been forwarded to the engineering team for consideration in the design. 10. Complementary Initiatives Resettlement plan is dealt with as a separate component. 11. Conclusion As predicted in this EIA study, the construction and operation of the Ageremariam - Moyale Road will bring about a number of important positive impacts that justify the implementation of the project. The improved road will enhance the development of the national as well as the local economy by promoting trade through the export-import activities between Ethiopia and Kenya and creating market access for livestock, which is the abundant resource and the predominant source of livelihood in the project area. Upgrading of the road will also generate several other important 9 positive environmental and social impacts including improved drainage across and alongside the road, controlling of erosion and siltation problems, improved sight distance, better traffic flows and traffic safety, and reduction of vehicle-operating costs during the operation phase. Conversely, construction of the road will cause a number of negative environmental impacts particularly during the construction phase. The potential significant environmental impacts include enhancement of soil erosion, deterioration of local landscape quality, increased sedimentation, competition for water sources, air and noise pollution, loss of natural vegetation, disturbance of wildlife and animal fatalities, and traffic safety problems to the local communities and their animals. Also there will be some permanent impacts including contamination of soil and water from spills of fuel and oil, and road runoff, air and noise pollution, traffic accidents, pedestrian safety problems and wildlife killings. These potential problems can be minimized to acceptable levels by adopting appropriate environmental mitigation measures during the design, execution and operation of the project. In order to prevent or minimize the potential adverse environmental impacts related to implementation of the envisaged road upgrading project and its subsequent operation, the environmental mitigation and monitoring measures specified in this EIA study shall be implemented properly and timely. Details of physical/engineering and bio-engineering mitigation measures shall be quantified and included in the Bill of Quantities as well as to be specified in the conditions of contract and the technical specifications respectively. For your Comments or Suggestions Contact: Ato Abdissa Megersa Tel: 0115 53 04 24 Email: abdimegersa@yahoo.com Ethiopian Roads Authority Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 10