proposed project; be consulted about the project; and freely make a decision about
whether or not to agree to the project.
PROCEDURAL STEPS:
Indicative timeline 3:
1) PERMISSION TO CONSULT: Any Project Proponent who wants to carry out any
project potentially impacting our Village must first inform our Toshao and
Village Council by written letter to ask for permission to consult us. The letter
must include the following initial information:
a. what the project is;
b. who the Project Proponent is, including his identity, background, and
character;
c. the potential benefits of the project, including income from the project
and assistance the Project Proponent can provide with community
development and infrastructure;
d. the potential impacts of the project on our environment, health, social
life, and culture; and
e. the
duration
of
the
project.
2) VILLAGE GENERAL MEETING: Our leaders will then organise two Village
General Meetings to talk to us about the request. At the first Village General
Meeting, our leaders will give us the initial information, which must include the
following:
a. what the project is;
b. who the Project Proponent is, including his identity, background, and
character;
c. the potential benefits of the project, including income from the project
and assistance the Project Proponent can provide with community
development and infrastructure;
d. the potential impacts of the project on our environment, health, social
life, and culture; and
e. the duration of the project.
At the second meeting, which must take place at least two weeks later, we will
decide whether we would like to hear more about the idea or not.
3) MEETING TO AGREE ON CONSULTATION PLAN: If the Village decides through
our agreed internal decision-making process that we are interested in hearing
more about the project, then we will invite the Project Proponent to a meeting
where we will present a plan for how we want the FPIC process to happen.
Before any next steps, the consultation plan must be agreed upon with the
Project Proponent. The plan will set out when and where meetings should be
held and contain plans for a social and environmental impact assessment. The
Village will also inform the Project Proponent about whether there will be a
smaller group representing the village in future communications and
consultations on the proposal and who will sign a potential agreement on behalf
of the Village. Any potential agreement is only valid if the agreed-upon collective
consultation process is followed in signing it.
3
This timeline is for indicative purposes and the Village may decide that changes, e.g. more time
for internal discussion, are necessary. If so, this will be set out in the Consultation Plan (see step
3). The scale of the project may also require a lesser process if there are limited impacts, which
can be decided at stage 2 of the process by the Village General Meeting.
Bethany Village FPIC Protocol
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