A resident near some of the homes in the area from which persons will have to be resettled.
~ Opportunists will not benefit ~
POND ISLAND--The majority of the residents and businesses located in the vicinity of the dump who have to be relocated due to the Emergency Debris Management Project have indicated that they prefer to receive cash compensation as part of the resettlement process.
In updating Members of Parliament (MPs) on the project, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said during a meeting in the legislature on Wednesday that the entire amount of funds for this project will only be received once there is sufficient progress on the resettlement of people and businesses in the area next to the dump.
The resettlement is a requirement according to the World Bank’s environmental safeguards, as residents’ and businesses’ proximity to the landfill poses significant health and safety risks.
“As part of the resettlement, affected persons – remember, we are talking about human souls, but also businesses – would receive compensation through the project, either in cash or in kind,” Jacobs said. “Thus far, a majority of affected people and businesses have expressed a preference for receiving cash compensation.”
The resettlement process is reflected in the Resettlement Action Plan, which is in the final stages of preparation. As soon as this is ready, it will be published and shared with Parliament.
Jacobs clarified that if any home repair project negatively affected persons who could no longer remain in their homes, they also were resettled elsewhere by the project during the repairs. “This goes on with all Trust Fund projects. Everyone has to be resettled before the project can proceed. This landfill residents’ relocation is no different; it is just a much larger scale [of persons – Ed.] that would have to be resettled.”
Jacobs made clear that “opportunists” who moved to the area after the assessment for the relocation was conducted would not benefit from the resettlement cash compensation.
“No persons who came in after the assessment will fall in the scope. Those persons would have to leave and there would be no compensation for them. This information was made very clear. The assessment was done up to a particular date. Anyone who moved as an opportunist would not benefit as a result,” she explained.
The Resettlement Action Plan is expected to start in the next few months and once the necessary additional financing is made available the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) will be able to launch the tender for the design, construction and operation of the Temporary Debris Storage and Reduction Facility (TDSR).
