Relocation and Resettlement in Ceará - Houston Advanced ...

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Introduction 8 FRC, PAGE 8 Involuntary displacement of communities and families is often an unavoidable consequence of infrastructure development. Especially in the case of water resource infrastructure, where reservoirs and canals are constructed, often along the most populated lands along riverbanks, displacement of large numbers of people is common. In recent years, the State of Ceará has embarked on a number of water resources development programmes to combat frequent droughts and rural out-migration and promote economic development in the interior of the state. As part of these efforts, one large dam—the Castanhão—and a series of medium earth-filled dams are already being constructed. In addition to these, a number of other projects are under active consideration, including a network of canals to link the various river basins in the State. To promote industrial development in the State, a large port is being built at Pecem. All of these projects will displace a number of people, ranging from 12,000 in the case of the Castanhão, to a few families in the case of Angicos, one of the smaller earth-filled dams. Recent well-publicised disputes relating to displacement and resettlement in large dam projects such as the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India and the Itaparica Dam in Brazil have raised the consciousness of planners and policy makers with regards to the socio-economic disputes arising from involuntary displacement. There are two major issues that planners and policy makers need to address when designing and implementing projects that cause displacement: (1) adequate compensation for community and individual assets—both legally titled and traditionally recognised—appropriated by the project, and (2) the rehabilitation of economic, social, cultural, and familial ties broken/strained by the project. To help ensure that displaced communities, families, and individuals in Ceará are economically and socially rehabilitated, the Secretariat of Water Resources of the State of Ceará contracted the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) to study current resettlement efforts in the state with a view to (1) providing a field-based evaluation of the resettlement operations in the State, (2) generating policy recommendations that highlight areas needing improvement, and (3) determining the utility of initiatives and programmes established for stakeholder participation in the resettlement process. An important component of this evaluation is to report on the efficiency and efficacy of the innovative multi-participatory decision making forum pioneered at the Castanhão Dam site, called the Multiparticipatory Working Group (GM). HARC researchers conducted the field-based evaluation during June through August 1998. During this period the HARC team visited communities affected by the Castanhão Dam, the PROURB dams Ubaldinho and Sitios Novos, and Porto Pecem. Findings from these field visits were written up in two Interim Reports that were presented to SRH in 1998. The First Interim Report presented findings from field visits to the Ubaldinho Dam and to rural communities affected by Castanhão, while the Second Interim Report focused on resettlement of urban areas affected by Castanhão, the Sitios Novos Dam and Porto Pecem. The information provided in these reports included: Perceptions of the various resettled communities. The methods and varying degrees of community participation in resettlement plans, design of resettlement habitations, and consultation with women. Available details of income restoration plans, including current and potential problems hindering the restoration of pre-relocation income streams and levels.
Available details on training and capacity building initiatives and plans. 9 FRC, PAGE 9 Initiative, plans and strategies and the results of maintenance and creation of social capital. A comparative analysis of rural and urban resettlement at Castanhão. A comparative analysis of the GM at Castanhão and Porto Pecem. An analysis of community leadership and organisation. An analysis of communication—both between the communities and government agencies and amongst different agencies charged with various resettlement activities. An analysis of government commitment to community participation in R&R operations. Interim policy and operational recommendations for improving resettlement performance based on fieldwork findings. This, the Final Report on Relocation and Resettlement in Ceará (FRC), highlights the main areas where Relocation & Resettlement (R&R) policy and practice can be improved and the most effective steps to achieve that improvement. The report has four parts. Part I presents a brief overview of the potential socio-economic and socio-cultural problems faced by communities that are involuntarily displaced. The report identifies those issues that were noted to be a problem in the case of the resettlement sites that were investigated by HARC. Measures and actions initiated by the resettlement agencies to tackle these problems and an analysis of their effectiveness are also presented. Part II presents a brief summary of policy and operational recommendations, including those iterated in the previous reports. Recommendations are categorised based on the institution or agency most responsible for implementing them. Part III presents a brief analysis of stakeholder participation in planning and implementing resettlement in Ceará, including the degree of commitment of various state agencies to multi-participatory planning. Finally, Part IV documents resources available to resettlement agencies and project-affected communities. {Appendices are not included in this version, but to be added to the final version} To encourage and ensure that good practices continue to be followed, in Appendix I, the report highlights some of the successful strategies developed and implemented by planners in Ceará. These highlights are excerpted from the First Interim Report in which they were presented in some detail. Appendix II provides a summary of activities of the HARC study team. Appendix III lists useful resources, publications, and reports that can assist Cearense planners in developing resettlement programmes. Appendix IV provides useful contact points. I. Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement An average of 10 million people are involuntarily displaced every year from their homes, communities, and traditional lands to make way for public infrastructure. Large dams alone displace about 4 million people every year, while other development projects—roads, airports, seaports, power plants—displace an additional 6 million people. Displacement is extremely disruptive and often impacts the most vulnerable communities and individuals. The impacts are economic, social, and environmental. Economic impacts include the dismantling of production systems, loss of productive assets, loss of income sources, relocation of people to areas where their skills are less applicable, and relocation of people where there is greater competition for
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