Summary of the Request

The Request describes potential harm to the quality of life, health, and property of the group of Requesters; coupled with environmental effects and cultural heritage for the community, due to the sanitation of an old landfill (currently in operation) and the opening of a new site in the area, which are part of the Program.

The Request also mentions potential non-compliance with the Bank's Relevant Operational Policies due to the lack of public information on the project and adequate public consultations to give consent by the affected population. Additionally, there is a lack of complete environmental and social studies and a deficient risk analysis on the impact of the works.

 Specifically, they allege that there are technical flaws that make the project unfeasible in environmental terms and a health risk due to the presence of toxic waste and polluting liquids that would not be treated correctly (neither due to the current dump in operation, nor contemplated in the new plays). In the same way, they point out that the site chosen to carry out the new landfill would not have sufficient capacity to fulfill the function, coupled with the potential damage to nearby sites considered historical heritage. The foregoing would also significantly affect, from their point of view, the quality of life and the assets of the residents who live in the direct area of influence of both landfills.

Finally, the Request alleges issues outside the scope of the MICI, such as potential irregularities in the bidding process or with respect to local regulations on works, which will be forwarded to the Offices of Institutional Integrity and Procurement.

Recent actions

On June 28, 2023, the investigation panel was formed, made up of Kattya Araya, Phase Coordinator, José Luis Rueda as an expert in the social component, and Gunãrs Platais, an expert in the environmental components of the investigation. The investigation is expected to be completed in March 2024.

On April 4, 2024, at the request of MICI, the Board of Executive Directors approved an extension to the investigation stage until October 11, 2024.

Past actions

On February 4, 2022, the MICI notified the Requesters and Management of the registration of the Request.

On April 6, 2022, MICI determined that the Request was eligible because it met all the eligibility criteria established in the MICI Policy. The MICI process excludes issues also included in the Request that relate to possible irregularities in the procurement, bidding, contracting, and awarding of companies, as these matters are outside of the MICI’s scope. 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 July 29, 2022, MICI issued its Assessment Report of the Consultation Phase, indicating that a dispute resolution process is feasible.

On November 11th, 2022  the Board of Executive Directors considered by Short Procedure the Consultation Phase Report. The Report concludes that an agreement was not feasible during the Consultation Phase, and that the request will be transferred to the Compliance Review Phase.

Once the case was transferred to the Compliance Review Phase, a Recommendation and ToR were prepared within the 21-business day period established by MICI policy. Subsequently, the document was sent for comments from the relevant stakeholders and after the comments were addressed, it was distributed to the Board of Executive Directors for its consideration. Finally, on April 3, 2023, the Board approved the Recommendation to conduct a Compliance Review and ToR. The investigation is expected to last 9 months from the date on which the investigation panel is formed, which will be made up of the Compliance Phase Coordinator and two experts.