Summary of the Request

The Request describes environmental harm to the community, their patrimony, and economic activities (with a differentiated impact to the livelihoods of women), as well as to the Requester’s health, due to the future construction and operation of a regional garbage dump/landfill in an area close to lagoons and water sources.

Specifically, the Requesters warn of a substantial and direct harm in the area of impact of the Project due to the contamination of water basins; the irreversible destruction of biodiversity and severe damage to two large wetlands and arable land. They add that the operation of the garbage dump will have as a consequence the depreciation of the land value and a negative impact on productive activity in fields (agricultural production, organic crops, beekeeping, etc. With differentiated effects and more concentrated for women who own businesses and real estate in the area). Likewise, they alleged the eventual deterioration in the community’s health, given that now they would have to live near waste; and even they would possibly be forced to abandon their activities in the impacted zone (schools, housing, community centers, jobs, etc.).

They also inform that the selection of the plot for the garbage dump was improvised, without the corresponding permits from the landowners and without an adequate analysis of alternatives and / or with environmental, social, and anthropic studies, with complete information on all negative impacts for the community.

Finally, they warned about the lack of public information about the Project and adequate public consultations in accordance with IDB Policies to give consent, by the affected population, for the landfill`s construction.

Recent actions

On August 1, 2024, the First Annual Monitoring Report was issued, which presents the progress made in the implementation of the commitments, and the status of those elements that are still pending fulfillment.

Past actions

On July 28, 2021, MICI notified the Requesters and Bank Management of the registration of the Request.

On September 28, 2021, MICI determined that the Request was eligible because it met all the eligibility criteria established in the MICI Policy. This determination of eligibility is not an assessment of the merits of the Request or of the issues contained therein.

The Request was transferred to the Consultation Phase as per the decision of the Requesters.

On November 8th, 2021, MICI submitted its Assessment Report of the Consultation Phase, indicating that a dispute resolution process is feasible.

On November 8th 2022, the Consultation Phase process was extended for an additional period of nine months.

On June 23, 2023, the Consultation Phase Report was distributed to the Board of Executive Directors for its consideration under short procedure. The Report includes the agreement reached between the parties on June 14, 2022, and its monitoring plan. This agreement included commitments on the final design of the project and specific areas that should be part of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) and the Environmental and Social Management Plan. On May 30, 2023, after the preparation of the ESIA, the sixth dialogue session was held, in which no new commitments were incorporated to those already defined in the partial agreement of 2022. In this way, the dialogue process was concluded. The monitoring stage of the agreements began on July 20, 2023, after the approval of the Monitoring Plan by the Board of Executive Directors.