Resettlement Implementation Project, Zambia
Tetra Tech is providing critical resettlement assistance to minimize community impacts and help facilitate water sanitation and drainage improvements in Zambia.
During the rainy season, Zambians face devastating floods that halt traffic, prevent access to schools and jobs, and leave contaminated, standing water that leads to infectious diseases. Without access to clean water and good sanitation practices, local villagers are likely to suffer myriad complications that affect their health and economic potential.
The Millennium Challenge Account Zambia Limited (MCA-Zambia) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) are currently implementing the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation, and Drainage (LWSSD) Project. Tetra Tech provided master planning and investment decision support and completed environmental and social impact assessments for the LWSSD project to improve local infrastructure. The project will improve water supply, sanitation, and drainage in select communities within Lusaka city with a target of more than 1.2 million people.
Tetra Tech’s resettlement team was selected to support MCA-Zambia by providing technical and advisory services to compensate project-affected persons (PAPs), advance livelihood restoration, and resolve grievances of those displaced within the construction corridors.
Tetra Tech prepared Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) in compliance with the International Finance Corporation Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement Performance Standard 5 (IFC PS5), MCC’s Social and Gender Policy, and the MCA-Zambia Social and Gender Integration Plan. The RAPS defined the implementation of resettlement compensation and restoration of livelihoods for PAPs.
To minimize community impacts and the number of PAPs, the Tetra Tech team worked closely with construction contractors through workshops and pre-construction walk-throughs to adjust the alignment of the construction corridors for the water distribution pipelines, avoiding properties and businesses where possible.
The team developed a system to receive, assess, and resolve issues arising from the compensation process to proactively address potential grievances. These issues ranged from compensation payments to the identification of rightful beneficiaries. Tetra Tech implemented a three-tier system with target time frames for resolution to address complaints. Individuals reported their grievances at Local Access Point Centers conveniently located throughout the project area. By the end of this resettlement effort, more than 1 million Zambians will benefit from the project’s interventions in the form of restored livelihoods, access to clean water, reduced flooding, and improved sanitation.