Azerbaijan republic ministry of transport road transport service department

6.4Institutional Strengthening

As identified in the EA&MF, with reference to the capacity of the ESS, there is often a gap between the preparation of the EMP and incorporation of the requirements for environmental mitigation and monitoring in the contract documents. This in turn leads to a lack of proper enforcement since the objectives and procedures for attaining those objectives are not clearly stated in the contract. Therefore, it is recommended that training under the construction supervision contracts concentrates on raising the level of awareness and practical skills of the ESS on these aspects.

The proposed Terms of Reference of the international environment specialist (CSC) who will conduct the ESS/district RTSD training and orientation for contractors is as follows:

1. 
   review prevailing government regulations and WB guidelines governing the assessment and management of environmental impacts of road projects;
   
2. 
   identify the procedures and tasks required to be performed by ESS to meet the requirements of these regulations and guidelines;
   
3. 
   review the skills of the ESS and district RTSD and assess the need for training to establish the capability to meet requirements for conducting environmental monitoring and implementation of mitigation measures of road projects;
   
4. 
   prepare a short-term staff training plan and associated materials to meet immediate needs;
   
5. 
   undertake training workshops that will include the following topics:
   
   • 
     preparation of EMPs and incorporation of associated requirements in contract documents and specifications for Consulting Services and Works contracts
     
   • 
     procedures for monitoring implementation including target parameters, frequency, responsibilities and means of monitoring
     
   • 
     health and safety procedures
     
6. 
   conduct orientation/workshop for contractors on construction-related environmental issues on road projects, implementation of mitigation measures and monitoring, and preparation of monitoring reports;
   
7. 
   evaluate the effectiveness of the training measuring improvements in attitudes and skills achieved through a combination of feedback questionnaires and performance evaluation; and
   
8. 
   prepare outline proposals for the longer-term organizational and capability development of ESS and district RTSD.
   

The training program would typically be delivered through short classroom training followed by more intensive on-the-job training site visits where relevant RTSD staff would participate directly with the international environmental specialist/construction supervision staff in reviewing the Contractors submissions, carrying out periodic monitoring inspections, attending meetings on environmental issues with the Contractor and other stakeholders, and environmental reporting. The training site visits would be timed to coincide with peak work activity in order to provide a good cross-section of monitoring activities typically including visual inspection of:

1. 
   discharges to watercourses;
   
2. 
   dust suppression;
   
3. 
   exhaust emissions;
   
4. 
   noise abatement measures;
   
5. 
   protection against oil spillage;
   
6. 
   site health and safety, sanitary facilities, etc.;
   
7. 
   public safety, traffic management, child safety, etc.; and
   
8. 
   documenting and dealing with public complaints.
   

6.5Implementation Schedule

Table 8 presents the schedule for implementation of various environmental requirements during different phases of the project.

Table 8: Implementation schedule.

Project Phase	Issue	Schedule
Detailed design	Inclusion of engineering measures to improve slope stability in erosion/landslide prone areas along the project corridor (see Section 7.1.3)
Prior to commencement of construction activities	ESS (with assistance from CSC) to review and approve contractor’s method statements	once
Upon mobilization of the CSC	Training for RTSD’S ESS and district offices (hands-on training will also be provided by the CSC during monitoring of the performance of contractors)	once
During construction	Monitoring	Refer to Annex B
During construction	Reporting: Contractor to ESS ESS to RTSD/MENR RTSD (through PIU) to WB	monthly quarterly semi-annual
During Operation	Monitoring	Refer to Annex B

7STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE

7.1Stakeholder Consultations

Consistent with the provisions of the WB’s OP/BP 4.01, public consultations were conducted on 8 and 9 December 2005 in settlements along the project road. The consultation was coordinated by the Consultant through the Office of the Chief of the Road Transport Service Department, which in turn, requested the Local Executive Powers of Qobustan, Shamakhi and Absheron districts to invite local residents, village officials/representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders to the meetings. The consultations were held at the Office of the Local Executive Powers of the respective districts and were attended by a total of 51 participants. The Consultant was represented by the team leader, deputy team leader and the environmental specialist (local and international).

During the meeting, the team leader introduced the project and provided general technical details of the proposed road rehabilitation. The international environment specialist presented the results of the impact assessment along with the proposed environmental mitigation measures and monitoring plan. Annexes c to D present the comments and corresponding response during the consultation.