On social safeguards, the project was hampered by difficulties in land acquisition, securing forestry permits, and soliciting project acceptance from affected people. The project lacked preparatory work on addressing social issues at the outset. There were gaps in communication between the following stakeholders: (i) ADB and PLN on how social safeguards were to be implemented, especially since the latter's existing corporate social responsibility guidelines may have been used in congruence with ADB's Safeguard Policy Statement (2009); (ii) the project and the affected people on the social, environmental, and health impacts of the power plants on their communities; (iii) the government, PLN, and local and provincial governments on project implementation and accountability, since the local/provincial governments were also given the authority to approve rural electrification projects; and (iv) PLN's head office and PLN's regional/local offices on complying with ADB's Safeguard Policy Statement (2009).
Renewable Energy Development