Projects should provide room for any kind of response from affected people, businesses, and other entities. The risk of delayed LAR was envisaged at project preparation, and mitigation measures were developed and implemented. Still, unexpected requests or demands were raised by project-affected people and businesses, leading to 51 complaints filed on issues such as compensation standards, physical quantity of demolition, and compensation amount. Except for the case of the Taihe Resort, whose complaint had to be settled legally, most of the problems were solved through consultation and negotiation. But the EA had to mobilize additional counterpart funds to defray the cost of LAR, which was 86% higher than estimated. The project implementation period also needed to be extended twice to complete the LAR activities.
Gansu Jiuquan Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project