Public Disclosure: Issue No. 2
20 July 2009
THE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PLAN OF GHANA Introduction In June 2009, an introduction to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Integrated Transport Plan (ITP) was posted on the MORH website. This brief is intended to provide an update on SEA activities since the last posting.
Scoping Phase The Scoping Phase commenced in mid-May 2009 and is currently on-going. Scoping allows the analysis and environmental reporting activities to be better focussed, as it: • • • • Allows the identification of key issues to be assessed, and hence guide the amount of detail required in the Environmental Report; Gives an outline of the assessment approach to be adopted in the Analysis Phase, including the use of SEA tools; Examines the compatibility of the ITP objectives against SEA objectives; Facilitates early stakeholder involvement, which assists in the provision of data as well as identifying potential problems early on in the planning process.
Scoping Activities A requirement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s scoping methodology is that a scoping workshop is carried out to define the scope of the SEA. This was held on 30th June 2009, at the Forest Hotel in Dodowa, and 56 participants attended from various stakeholder categories. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate broad stakeholder involvement in the development of the Integrated Transport Plan and associated processes, as well as to continue with the process of awareness raising and capacity building in the development of SEA in Ghana. Specifically, the workshop objectives were to: • Obtain participants’ views and comments on the stakeholder analysis; • Establish stakeholders prioritised expectations of the outputs and benefits of an Integrated Transport Planning process; • Establish factors and conditions required for the success of an Integrated Transport Planning process and plan; • Inform the stakeholders on the baseline integrated transport network and the demand scenarios to be used for modelling the Integrated Transport Plan; and • Identify stakeholders’ perception of the main environmental sustainability (natural resources or bio-physical, socio-cultural, economic and institutional) issues of concern and desired aims with regard to the ITP. This would then form the basis for the scope of the SEA Study. As part of the Inception Phase an initial analysis of stakeholders was carried out for engagement and consultation during all phases of the SEA study. Participants were categorised on the basis of their knowledge of transportation issues and their ability to influence the SEA process, and this then determined at what level and by what means they would be involved. The stakeholder analysis was then reviewed by participants at the Scoping Workshop held on 30th June 2009, and their
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Public Disclosure: Issue No. 2
20 July 2009
additions and amendments sought so that a more comprehensive list of stakeholders is now available. This list will of course continue to grow as consultations and interactions with more interested parties take place during the Analysis Phase of the study. Also during the Inception Phase, a review was conducted of the institutional, legal and regulatory framework for environmental management in Ghana. In the Scoping Phase, this has been refined with a view to providing a basis for assessing the capacity of key institutions responsible for environmental sustainability issues. One of the main objectives of the Scoping Workshop was to elicit from the stakeholders their main issues of concerns or desired outputs from the ITP process, ie. environmental sustainability criteria. This provided the basis for developing the objectives, aspects and indicators of the SEA study. The prioritised objectives have enabled the identification of the relevant baseline that needs to be collected in the Analysis Phase, where that data can be obtained. Once the type and availability of data is established, after scoping, the measurability and appropriateness of indicators to ensure these objectives are met will be assessed, and where applicable, the need for legal and regulatory changes in order that the objectives are met will be established. Having established the SEA objectives, a compatibility matrix has been prepared where the project evaluation criteria in the multi-criteria evaluation manual developed by the ITP planners are compared with the environmental sustainability criteria that were identified during the SEA Scoping Workshop. The Scoping Report will be submitted at the end of July. Information on the progress of the SEA of the ITP will be regularly posted on this website. Further information on the SEA study can be obtained from: aru.willetts@gmail.com.
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