RP369 V3 BOTAS Tuz Golu Underground Gas Storage Project Project Affected People of the Well Area Objective The Land Acquisition Plan for the BOTAS Tuz Golu Underground Gas Storage Project was disclosed in country and in InfoShop in March 2013. Social surveying of the persons affected in the well area were not completed at the time however, and the Land Acquisition Plan was cleared by the World Bank on the condition that BOTAS survey persons affected by the project in the well area, by using the survey questionnaire annexed to the Land Acquisition Plan. The survey intended to determine the degree of impacts on each land owner and assess that no affected person was worse off after the project due to land acquisition. It was stated that BOTAS will document the surveys and provide the World Bank with a summary of those to be affected and determine if any additional assistance will be necessary. BOTAS will ensure that the affected persons will be compensated in accordance with the Entitlement Matrix in the RAP disclosed on March 2013 for the Gas Sector Development Project. Where the Entitlement Matrix may not cover investments made on the land by the land owner, BOTAS will also ensure that such investments are compensated for. If both BOTAS and the affected person reach a mutual agreement, then such investments can also be directly replaced by BOTAS instead. Summary of Key Impacts and Affected People The land acquisition necessary for the 12 wells in the well area consists of acquiring 5o public parcels and 51 private parcels with 324 hectares of total land. 191 hectares of the land is public land and 133 hectares of the land is private land. For the public lands, BOTAS staff have conducted several site surveys since September 12 to currently to determine existing conditions and usages of the areas. It was found out that there are no users on the public land because of the existing surface conditions such as sloping and muddy surface and in accessibility for farming. This was stated in the Land Acquisition Plan and the status has not changed. For the private parcels, surveys were conducted in person by BOTAS personnel in accordance with the survey questionnaire annexed to the Land Acquisition Plan, and during the period of March 2013 – December 2013. According to the surveys: There are 31 land owners for the 51 plots, since a number of land owners have multiple plots. Of the 31 land owners, no one lives on the plots of land. Most people live 15 to 20 kilometers away from the plots, and some live even farther in the nearest city Nigde (about 160 kilometers away). The lands are farmland used for dry agriculture. Wheat and barley are the most common crops. 16 of the owners responded that they farm the land themselves, 10 responded that the land is not used / empty, and 5 responded that they rent their lands. 1 For all of the owners, 100 percent of these plots are being acquired. While for the wells, not all of the area is necessary, it was decided to acquire the whole plots because the utilization of the remaining areas would not be feasible. In the survey, 16 land owners stated that they have other lands in the area. The survey asked land owners about their main source of income and the breakdown can be observed in the table below. 12 of the land owners have a main source of income that is not dependent on the land (government job, carpet selling, trade and pension payments). While a total of 17 land owners report that their main source of income is dependent on farming (10 persons) or livestock (7 persons). Table 1. Main Source of Income of Land Owners Main Source of Income Number of persons Farming 10 Livestock 7 Government job 4 Carpet Selling 3 Trade 3 Pension payments 2 Other 2 Total 31 When asked how the land acquisition will affect them, 11 persons stated that they will not be affected negatively from the land acquisition, 18 persons stated that they will be affected positively by the land acquisition and the compensation. 1 person was unclear; she said she is not sure what affect it will have on her yet. 1 person also noted that although not affected negatively economically, the land has sentimental value for him because it was his father’s land. 1 person noted that he will be affected by the land acquisition because he needs to re-establish his life. 2 hectares of this persons’ land was expropriated and he has 9.5 hectares more of land in the vicinity. The well he used for irrigation is on the expropriated land however, and he states that he will need to dig a new well on his remaining land. When asked what affected persons will do with the compensation and whether they would like to buy land, most (27 persons) noted that they will not be buying replacement land. The detailed breakdown can be seen in the table below. Table 2. Plans of Using Compensation Received On what will you spend the compensation? Number of persons New apartment / house 9 Replacement land 4 Car 3 Investment / savings 3 Additional livestock 2 Trade 2 Children 2 2 Needs 2 Education 1 Marriage ceremony 1 Religious duty 1 Debt 1 Of the 4 persons who want to buy replacement land, 3 have stated that they will not be negatively affected, they will be able to buy comparable land and continue their lives with an effect on their income. 1 person, while stating that he will not be negatively affected by the land acquisition, noted that prices of plots in the immediate vicinity have increased due to the BOTAS expropriation. Surveys showed that there are no severely affected or particularly vulnerable persons. The 2 persons who receive pension payments stated that they have a regular income from these and that they were not negatively affected by the land acquisition. There are 6 female land owners: 3 of these stated their main source of income as their jobs as government employees. 1 female is a housewife and noted that the land acquisition will affect her positively. 1 female’s main source of income is livestock and she stated that the land acquisition will not affect her negatively. 1 female is a farmer and she is the person noted above as saying that she is unclear how the land acquisition will affect her. She may or may not buy replacement land, she is most likely to set up a small business in trade. As for the grievance redress mechanism set up by BOTAS, the land owners were asked if they know whom to contact when they have questions or grievances and whether they can easily access these persons. Every single land owner stated that they were aware of who they can contact and access them easily by phone, in person or online. For the five renters on the properties, BOTAS can confirm that they are able to find alternative lands in the area for renting and farming, as there are plenty plots to rent in the area. In fact, there are a lot of unused lands as can be evidenced by the fact that 10 of the land owners stated that their lands were empty / not used. 3