Compliance Advisor Ombudsman

Complaint

Societe Concessionaire de l'Aeroport (SCA), a special purpose company, holds a 45-year concession from the Royal Government of Cambodia to operate the Phnom Penh International Airport as well as two other airports in the country. This is the first of two projects IFC has with SCA and includes upgrading the PPIA facilities (runway lengthening and widening, construction of a parallel taxiway, expansion of apron and warehouse facilities and modernization of the airport operating equipment). IFC’s investment consists of a loan of up to $10 million.

In June 2013, 59 households from Thmor Korl and Prey Chisak villages, with the support and assistance of a Cambodian NGO, lodged a complaint with CAO. The complaint raises concerns over threatened land acquisition and possible forced evictions in connection with the development of Phnom Penh International Airport.  Issues around community consultation and IFC due diligence were also raised in the complaint. The complainants requested that CAO keep their identities confidential.

CAO Action

CAO found the complaint eligible for further assessment in June 2013 and assessment trips were conducted in July and November 2013. Based on stakeholder discussions conducted as part of the CAO Assessment, the complainants, company and Government agreed to work with CAO's Dispute Resolution function to try to resolve the issues raised in the complaint using a collaborative approach. From February 2014, CAO convened several multi-stakeholder meetings, provided training, and facilitated information sharing. Several interim agreements were reached on issues such as the conducting of baseline socio-economic surveys, the placement of informational sign boards in potentially affected communities, and information sharing and consultation with the affected communities. In June 2016, the Royal Government of Cambodia announced there would be no resettlement and alternative plans to build the new airport at another location were being reviewed.  In January 2018, after consultations with complainant representatives and SCA, CAO formally moved the Cambodia Airports-01/Phnom Penh case to the dispute resolution monitoring phase.

In order to meet International Civil Aviation Organization safety and security standards and avoid impacts to local communities, the government and SCA agreed to build a new interior security fence, inside the existing airport and to renovate and improve the original exterior airport wall. The interior fence construction and exterior wall renovations were completed in June 2018. A case closure meeting was held in Phnom Penh on August 23, 2019 with participation of the Phnom Penh Airport Community Advisory Group, SCA, IFC, the State Secretariat for Civil Aviation, and NGOs. In May 2020, CAO released a Conclusion Report and formally closed the case. The Conclusion Report summarizing the dispute resolution process is available in English and Khmer under "View Documents" below. 

Status

CAO has closed this case after monitoring the implementation of agreements. 

Status as of May 7, 2020