Transport / Urban roads and traffic management

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban flood protection - Urban policy, institutional and capacity development - Urban sanitation

The overall impact of the Project is to improve environmental quality and public health in Nuku'alofa through improved urban infrastructure. The focus will be on improvement of delivery of urban services to the poor and vulnerable in urban and peri-urban areas. The outcome of the project will be the establishment or improvement of high-priority infrastructure projects, such as roads and drains. The project will include (i) verification of detailed locations for the proposed infrastructure subprojects, (ii) design and installation of the infrastructure, (iii) capacity building and monitoring, and (iv) training of operators. The key overall outcomes will be (i) improved living conditions in urban and peri-urban areas and (ii) improved and better-coordinated urban planning and management.

Specific outputs include (i) improved roads and drains in the urban area; (ii) a major new drain to serve a low-lying inundated part of the urban area; (iii) capacity building in preventative maintenance.

The project will include construction of key infrastructure subprojects, and will ensure that they are sustainable through the establishment of maintenance funds and cost-recovery mechanisms, as well as training of operators and maintenance personnel. The project is expected to result in the establishment of a new urban planning and management unit.

With a focus on low-income areas, the proposed project will have substantial poverty reduction effects through improved living conditions, creation of bankable assets for the poor, and on-the-job training through employment opportunities related to project construction.

Increased demand for town allotments in urban areas has forced urban expansion onto low-lying wetlands. With decreasing availability of suitable land and a rapidly growing urban

population, social services in Nuku'alofa are deteriorating and roads and drainage need improvement. Frequent flooding in parts of the Nuku'alofa area is resulting in declining health and social indicators. The Project will contribute to improved urban services.

The Project supports the Asian Development Bank (ADB) strategy for improved access to basic social services and the Government's Strategic Development Plan 8. The Project is

directly linked to ADB's key strategy to support the Government's policy reform program for enhancing the public sector's efficiency and effectiveness, and it addresses deteriorating social conditions through general interventions.

The Project will provide for the following:

(i) Roads. Rehabilitating approximately 20 kilometers (km) of primary roads, including road drainage, constructing 4 km of all weather access roads in low-income residential areas, and developing a preventive road maintenance program.

(ii) Drainage. Rehabilitating all existing drains in Nuku'alofa's central business areas (CBA), constructing 2.1 km of flood relief drains, and developing a stormwater drainage maintenance program.

(iii) Sanitation. Constructing eight groundwater monitoring wells and monitoring of groundwater quality.

(iv) Candidate subprojects. Constructing candidate subprojects selected following the selection criteria.

Special drain cleaning equipment procured. Drainage rehabilitation and drain cover replacement works completed in 2011.

Construction of monitoring wells completed in 2010. Regular water testing continues.

The Project is classified as environmental category B. An initial environmental examination (IEE) has been

prepared in accordance with ADB's Environment Policy (2002) and Environmental Assessment Guidelines

(2003), and a summary IEE is attached as Appendix 11. The Government's environmental requirements,

as set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (2003), have also been taken into account.

Consultations with stakeholders were undertaken while preparing the IEE to ensure their concerns will be

adequately addressed and incorporated in the project design

The seven core subprojects are located within Nuku'alofa urban area, where the environment has been

substantially modified. Most of the subprojects are maintenance and rehabilitation by nature. They are all

small, involve minor civil works, and none of them will be located or pass through any protected areas

or ecologically sensitive environment. The road upgrades that consist of resurfacing, widening, and

providing sidewalks will be within the existing rights-of-way, and the drainage components consist of

improvements to the existing drainage system in the CBA. Constructing a new drainage channel leading to a

settlement area has been dropped. Mitigation measures have been formulated to minimize environmental impacts to

insignificant levels. The groundwater quality monitoring will involve installing wells around the project area.

It will produce data necessary for improving conservation of the lagoon and foreshore environment. Limited

land acquisition will be involved, but no resettlement will be required.

Of the seven core subprojects, only the Sopu Drainage Channel subproject will involve involuntary

resettlement. ( This subproject was dropped as actual land acquisition came to more than what was envisaged at project design) Widening of the Taufa'ahau Road will be contained within the existing right-of-way. The

Taufa'ahau Road right-of-way is not being encroached upon for commercial or any other purpose. A summary land acquisition and resettlement plan (LARP) is included in Appendix 10, and the short LARP is in Supplementary Appendix F of the RRP. A LARP will be prepared for candidate subprojects that require land acquisition or have resettlement impacts following the guidelines set out in the land acquisition and resettlement framework (refer to Supplementary Appendix G).