Land Acquisition and Resettlement - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 586

Box 14.1 Some Examples of Lack of Social Preparation and
Community Participation

• Consultation and participation is viewed as a 'necessary evil'.
• Mining companies disregard the diversity within communities; communities are
viewed as homogeneous. Marginalized groups with no direct representation such
as women, the poor or Indigenous Peoples may be overlooked. Their interests
and needs are not explored; assumptions are made about their requirements.
• Failure to recognize pre-existing risks of social division or potential conl ict that
can be triggered when compensation and resettlement programmes benei t some
more than others or lead to the monetarization and breakdown of customary
modes of transaction.
• Mining companies deal only with the community leaders and/or representatives
of the local government. Informal leaders are not recognized and large groups of
the community are ignored. NGOs and other informal stakeholders are viewed
as 'troublemakers'.
• Community consultation may not develop into community participation.
Communities are excluded from planning resettlement options. They are
expected to 'take it, or leave it'.

• Communication is not open and fair. Shared information may be selective and

incomplete, and often issued after a delay.

• Affected people are not informed about their rights, and are thus open to abuse.

Source: These and other common issues summarized in the various boxes in this chapter are based on
Sonnenberg and Muenster (2001), using involuntary mining-related resettlement in southern Africa as
examples.

it remains a challenge to convert cash into sustainable measures for long-term social and
economic benei ts. For the inexperienced and vulnerable groups in societies affected by
resettlement, this is extremely difi cult. Resettlement has to involve income replacement
through land-based re-establishment and re-employment.

Resettlement has to involve
income replacement through
land-based re-establishment and
re-employment.

Allocated Resettlement Budget

Resettlement costs money. Allocation of sufi cient funds is essential ( Box 14.2 ). In addi-
tion, to be successful resettlement requires a multi-year commitment. Mining companies
need to dedicate and use i nancial resources on a multi-year basis so they can respond to
the needs of affected people and build trust in their commitment. Land acquisition costs
represent only a fraction of the total required resettlement budget. Cost items include
expenditure for planning, community consultation and participation, capacity building,
relocation, income restoration and monitoring of resettlement success. Mining companies,
however, must i nd the correct balance between the money actually spent on affected peo-
ple, and the money spent on personnel involved in planning and implementing resettle-
ment. The irony is that in more than one project, money spent on consultant fees has far
outweighed the total expenditure on directly affected people.