Open Letter to Presiden World Bank and IFC

Dear World Bank President Kim and IFC President Le Houérou,
We are writing to you with deep concerns about a number of World Bank and IFC-supported Indonesian Infrastructure funds, financial intermediaries, and projects, including on-going investments and support (including for coal mega-power plants), as well as projects in the pipeline and planned for Board vote, as early as 25 April 2016, according to documents posted on the World Bank website.
The projects of concern include:

• PT. Indonesian Infrastructure Finance (IIF
• PT. Indonesian Infrastructure Guarantee Fund (IIGF)

Projects in the pipeline:

• Indonesian Infrastructure Finance Development project (IIFD:Board vote originally scheduled March, now postponed to 25 April 2016.
• Indonesian Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF): $500 million; WB + Switzerland – project in pipeline;Board vote scheduled March 2016; postponed to September 2016?
• Indonesia Infrastructure Finance Development Trust Fund (IIFDTF)

Overarching concerns about existing and proposed World Bank and IFC support for a range of Indonesian infrastructure funds and initiative include:

• The lack of public disclosure of documents pertaining to current projects and those in the pipeline;
• The lack of materials in Indonesian language;
• The lack of public consultation, including mandatory public consultation on environmental and social assessments prior to appraisal (approximately 120 days prior to Board vote);
• Violations of and failure to implement WB, IFC environmental and social safeguard requirements, including those pertaining to information disclosure and consultation processes for social and environmental assessments, forced resettlement, Indigenous rights, due diligence requirements prior to the use of Country Systems (CSS), etc.
• Mis-categorization of environmental and social risks. Please see the appended letter from the undersigned NGOs and appended briefing materials for details.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Ecological Justice Indonesia
Indonesian Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
TUK Indonesia
WALHI – Friends of the Earth Indonesia
WALHI West Java
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW)
ELSAM Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Indonesia)
Ulu Foundation (USA)
Urgewald (Germany)
Gender Action (USA)
debtWATCH Indonesia
Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis (CITA)
BiotaniBahari Indonesia
CAPPA Ecological Justice Foundation (Indonesia)
SolidaritasPerempuan – Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights (Indonesia)
YayasanPusaka (Indonesia)
Indonesia for Global Justice
KonsorsiumPembaruanAgraria (Indonesia)
SajogyoInsititute (Indonesia)
PeTA – Perkumpulan Tanah Air (Indonesia)
PILNet – Public Interest Lawyer Network (Indonesia)
JaringanAdvokasi Tambang -JATAM (Indonesia)
LembagaBantuanHukum (LBH) Semarang (Indonesia)
Lembaga Gemawan, West Kalimatan, Indonesia
Swandiri Institute (Indonesia)
BothENDS (Netherlands)
Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society
Friends of the Earth-Japan
Friends of the Earth – USA
Forest People’s Programme (UK)
Center for International Environmental Law – CIEL (USA)
Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre (Nigeria)
Social Justice Connection, Canada
Carbon Market Watch (Belgium)
11.11.11- Coalition of the Flemish North-South Movement (Belgium)
CC:
Executive Directors of the World Bank and IFC
U.S. Appropriations Committees of the House of Representatives and Senate
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
U.S. Treasury Department
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This post is also available in: Indonesian