Infrastructure and Equipment Design and Safety: Potentially negative community health impacts stem from dust and noise due to the movement of heavy equipment, materials and project personnel during construction. During operations, blasting and heavy trucks transporting raw and processed materials will affect the population of rural villages and settlements located within a few kilometres of the cement plant, and along nearby roads which will be important conduits for importing raw materials and exporting finished product i.e., cement. Community safety risks will also result from a marked increase in vehicular traffic during both the construction and operational phases and the concomitant potential for accidents involving both humans and domestic animals. During the impact assessment, specialist noise studies were undertaken and quantified, while dust and safety impacts were assessed though not quantified. In addition, the cumulative impacts of these aspects, both from the perspective of other projects i.e., the PPC plant, were not assessed in any detail.  NYA has committed to undertaking further air/dust and safety studies to assess these impacts including the cumulative component. As part of the ESIA, a Community Health and Safety Plan was developed, however this will need to be updated to take account of new findings to which NYA has also committed and are in the process of commissioning a consultant for this purpose. This will be a requirement as contained in the ESAP. 

Impacts of increased traffic and associated safety issues were found to be of major significance in the ESIA, reduced to medium with proper mitigation. In the ?recommended further actions? in Section 14.2 of the ESIA, SRK recommends that a specialist traffic and road safety study is undertaken, with the development of a detailed traffic road safety management plan addressing engineering, education and enforcement. NYA have since committed to developing such a plan and are in the process of commissioning SRK for this task. This requirement is contained within the ESAP. Given the significance of this impact and the potential broader social and cumulative impacts associated with it, IFC requires that this is developed as a strategic plan including planning for truck staging areas and associated services. This will include in the design of the plant an internal waiting area sufficiently large to accommodate 200 - 300 trucks per day. As included within the ESAP, this area will be secure and properly provisioned with sanitation, food services, and other small shops so as to minimize if not eliminate the need for waitin truckers to enter nearby villages for such services. 

Hazardous Materials Management and Safety: NYA has committed to storing and management of hazardous materials in line with GIIP. In addition, an assessment was undertaken of community exposure to toxic or hazardous substances and recommended measures were provided, including the development and implementation of a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plan for the site. The initial Community Health and Safety Plan mentions that spillage of hazardous materials from vehicle collisions could impact the community. Measures to address these will need to be detailed in the updated Community Health and Safety Plan, as required in the ESAP.  

According to the ESIA, blasting and storage and handling of explosives will be undertaken in accordance with the relevant international guidelines and DRC regulations, as covered under PS3. These must also take into account potential impacts on the surrounding communities.  

Ecosystem Services: The communities in the area are reliant on the provisioning and regulating ecosystem services in the project area. Natural resources regularly used by local residents include wood, fish, and wild animals, building materials, medicinal plants, grazing for livestock and potable water. Many of the resources in the area are being depleted due to pressure from unsustainable agricultural practices. Potential impacts on the surficial water bodies (wetlands) due to groundwater abstraction and contamination related to improper disposal of waste and discharge of untreated process water; potential biodiversity impacts on aquatic fauna and flora of the swamp and gallery forests of the Yuku River due to the haul road placement; and potential loss of livelihood for the Yuku villagers plus other villages that will lose access to land and may lose access to the surficial water, are currently unquantified. The significance of ecosystem services during project implementation, operation and decommissioning will be assessed during the planned detailed biodiversity study and livelihood restoration assessment. Based on the findings of biodiversity study and livelihood restoration, ecosystems services related mitigation measures will be incorporated into the ESMP as appropriate. 

Community Exposure to Disease: The increased potential for the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDs and STDs linked to the influx of predominantly male job-seekers and workers was rated as of low significance during both the construction and operation stages. However, experience of projects of this nature indicates that this can be significant issue if not managed properly. According to the ESIA, although NYA has developed a Health and Safety Policy, there is no coverage of HIV/AIDS and other STDs, or malaria. In addition, the initial Community Health and Safety Plan is currently cursory and does not cover this area at all. As per the mitigation measures suggested in the ESIA, NYA must develop a comprehensive HIV/AIDs programme and update the Community Health and Safety Plan in this regard. This requirement is contained within the ESAP. 

Emergency Preparedness and Response: NYA has developed a high level Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) in response to the requirements of DRC?s Mining Code and the requirements of the Performance Standards. This provides a framework for the operational framework to be developed prior to construction. This covers potential sources of risk for all phases of the project, and provides an overview of NYA?s capacity to respond to emergencies, including security emergencies, occupational health and safety emergencies and environmental emergencies. The EPRP also sets out detailed planning steps for developing the more detailed operational plan. The EPRP as described under PS1 above includes external steps for setting up lines of communication for external liaison and reporting, including coordination with emergency services, where they exist and appropriate communication with the media and reporting to, and liaison with the media. It is likely in this situation that there will be limited external emergency services available, and therefore NYA?s emergency procedures will need to be robust and self-sufficient. 

Security Personnel: DRC law prohibits the arming of private security personnel. NYA will hire its own personnel for the security at the accommodation areas, waste management facility, explosive storage area and cement plant, which will be fenced and access controlled through security booms and gates. They will also subcontract the police force for mine security. The ESIA recommends that the relationship between the police force and community is closely monitored and a code of conduct developed for police. In addition, the ESIA recommends that proper screening of appointed personnel takes place to ensure that they were not implicated in human rights abuses. This will be a requirement in the ESAP, along with a security risk assessment and development of appropriate policies and procedures for managing the project?s use of and relationship with security personnel, whether public or private (including either an in-house or third-party guard force).