A Road to Ply

By Avilash Roul and Asel Kuttubaeva [1]

First published in http://forum-adb.org

22 Sep 09 -- A billboard is showing the information about a road project in a newly constructed road in Karasuu region. Despite the Asian Development Bank (ADB) having the largest investment, there has been no mention about the its investment with OPEC. Only co-financers like Islamic Development Fund and China Import and Export Bank are shown. It has always been a common practice by the ADB to put signboards for its investment projects.

The $43.4 million dollar Southern Transport Corridor Road Rehabilitation Project, which is supported by the ADB ($32.8 million), has not been complying with the Bank’s many provisions and policies. Project implementer has not properly adhered to the ADB’s public communication policy, Core Labor Standards, and Safeguard policies. 

According to ADB, the rehabilitation and improvement of the 124-km portion of the two- way highway from Osh to Gulcha to Sopy-Korgon in two phases in Kyrgyz Republic would enhance economic growth and reduce poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic, PRC, and Uzbekistan. 

Just like in other ADB-funded road projects, public participation is negligible. Villagers of Chi Tal, Jergetal and Sopy Korgon, Kolduk along the road corridor have not been consulted on mitigation and adaptation measures of the project.

The Revised 2007 Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) says that several consultations had been organized in 2001. Villagers of Chi Tal would have proposed to construct the project along the river as the present road is narrow and passes through the middle of the village which is unsafe for them and their livestock.

For villages such as Sopy Korgon and Chi Tal that have schools situated along the roads, there are no measures adopted to keep children safe from speeding vehicles, such as speed breakers and traffic signals.

Villagers living along the road pointed out that vibration and noise caused by big trucks with goods coming from PRC and heavy earth movers have damaged their houses. Almost every house has a crack on the walls and on the windows. Although various measures are being addressed in the 2007 IEE reports, these are not yet communicated to the villagers neither by the executing agency nor the ADB.

Non-compliance of Core Labor Standards    
Meeting with road construction workers has revealed many drawbacks in the construction of the road project on the project sites. Working conditions of domestic employees is very poor. Local workers are working without a contract which leaves them to the mercy of their employers. Interestingly, on the same road project funded by the ADB, construction workers are receiving two separate wages. Working salary of domestic employees in China Road under Chinese Company contract varies from KGS4000-6000, which is much lower than the salary of the same domestic employees working under Turkish company on the other part of the road.

Safety measures are not undertaken by the contracting companies. Workers, especially those involved in mountain cutting, do not have respiratory mask to avoid inhaling dust and are not provided with any safety measures. Basic emergency health facilities for workers are not provided near the construction site. The project lacks any management plan on disposal of construction waste, such as oil and solvent from construction camps. There are no preventive measures for dust mitigation due to mountain cutting. It is not possible to breathe because of dusty air. Road surfaces, excavation and constructions sites are not being sprayed with water to keep them moist to control dust as advised by the Construction Supervision Consultant.

Trucks carrying earth, sand or stone are not covered with substance to avoid spilling over. Being in a mountainous area, the road design has not considered this high rate of fine dust particles in the air during construction.

In Chi Tal village, 470 households are being affected by vibration and noise at night. This makes stress and creates inconveniences in their social life. The IEE recommends that the working hours should be from 10 AM to 6 PM to avoid inconvenience to the inhabitants along the road. The same IEE mentions that any progress on work related activities should be conveyed to the inhabitants before hand by the Contractors. However, all these recommendations are gathering dust in the IEE report. The contractors must follow immediately the IEE recommendations on implementations of the project.
 
1 Asel Kuttubaeva, Program Officer, NGO International Center Interbilim, Kyrgyzstan.