Hiring of Consultants to Provide Technical Assistance to Expedite EIA Report Review... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Myanmar

Summary : Hiring of Consultants to Provide Technical Assistance to Expedite EIA Report Review at the Ministry

Deadline : 11 Feb 2019

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 30045796

Document Ref. No. : 1260867

Competition : ICB

Financier : International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION (IFC)
20th Floor, Sule Square, 221 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Township, Yangon Tel: (+95) 1 9255020
Myanmar
Email :wbgeconsultant@worldbank.org
URL :https://www.ifc.org/

Tender Details

Expression of Interest are invited for Hiring of 2 Consultants to provide Technical Assistance to Expedite EIA Report Review at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), Myanmar.

Since the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure came into effect in December 2015 in Myanmar, a considerable number of EIA, Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) reports have been submitted to the Environmental Conservation Department, MoNREC by project proponents from various sectors. Consequently, the EIA division has been inundated with a large volume of EIA and EMP reports to be reviewed and approved.

Immediate assistance has been proposed to:
Review elected EIA reports and provide comments to the ECD EIA Review Team;
Assistance in preparation of Environmental Compliance Certificate(ECC)for approval of EIA reports in accordance with EIA procedure;
Improve the capacity and confidence of ECD staff in reviewing EIA reports through on-the-job training and in-house seminars as requested.

The consultants will work closely with the ECD staff providing advice and guidance as well as carrying out technical reviews.

The objectives of assignment are to:
Conduct review, in close collaboration with ECD management and staff, on the prioritized 20 EIA reports and provide assistance in the EIA approval process;
Provide comments within an established template (or format) for the EIA Review Team and ECD Director/ DG;
Provide assistance to ECD for issuing Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for approved EIA reports as per the EIA Procedure (2015);
Improve the reviewing capacity and confidence of EIA division staff through practical training during the review and approval process for the defined EIA reports.

3. Scope of Work
IFC will be hiring two consultants for this assignment who will both be stationed in ECDs office in MONREC, Naypyitaw, Myanmar. The majority of the work is expected to be in-country. The consultants are expected to work closely with both ECD management and staff to support management and decisions of the EIA division and streamlining the EIA processes within the organization.

The consultants will also identify requirements from EIA Scoping Reports, if available, that are related to the designated EIA reports and assess the alignment between such inclusive of the EMP if applicable.

This process should be conducted together with a rapid administrative level review to determine if the EIA report has complied with legal requirements of the EIA Procedures and that report has sufficient information to ensure that the associated project can be assessed by ECD EIA Review Team.

In addition, the consultant is also required to undertake and fulfill the following tasks.
Define review criteria (e.g. adequacy of technical detail, compliance with the EIA Procedures, fulfillment of relevant reports and compliance with public participation guidelines etc) and/or update existing criteria used by and agreed with ECD;
Review the assigned number of EIA reports based on the agreed criteria;
Work with ECD EIA Review Team as well as ECD management in reviewing the EIA documentation i.e., scoping report, TOR and other applicable documentation;
Provide recommendations to ensure EIA reports are of sufficient relevance and quality for decision making and they meet the approved Scoping Report (if available);
Prepare standard template (if required) to provide comments from initial EIA review to Project Proponent and EIA Review Team;
Provide on-the-job training to ECD staff on the review of EIA reports;
Provide additional support to specific recommendations emanating from the World Bank Group (WBG) diagnostic related to the review process;
Working closely with the ECD EIA Team Lead for each EIA to guide them through the process and organize a regular schedule of work to complete the review;
Organizing regular meetings with ECD DG and/or EIA Division Director on the progress of EIA review and scheduling for EIA Review Team meetings;
Participating in the EIA Review Team meeting as required and providing advice for the effective review of EIA;
Provide comments and recommendations on how the information provided in the EIA report can be modified or improved so as inform effective decision making;
Coordinate with all relevant Development Partners (DPs) who are assisting the ECD to improve EIA system; and
Deliver review reports, training reports, revised EIA review templates etc.
At the end of this assignment a report should be submitted to IFC providing feedback on ECD staff capacity (e.g. skillset, gaps in knowledge, organizational constraints, and training needs).

This assistance will be undertaken in a coordinated manner with other DPs providing assistance to ECD to strengthen the departments EIA system. No EIAs that are expected to be financed by the WBG will be reviewed as part of this assignment.

4. Qualifications
The IFC is hiring two consultants who will provide support to ECD. Whilst it is not expected that one consultant will have proficiency in all technical matters, one of the consultants should have social expertise (e.g. understanding of land policies/land acquisition process and resettlement action plans) and the other should have environmental expertise (e.g. biodiversity, pollution, chemicals, etc). It is possible that one of the consultants may bring a combination of both environmental and social skills. The following minimum qualifications are required for the international EIA Review experts.
Master or PhD in EIA relevant discipline;
A minimum of 10 years experiences with EIA process and system;
At least 5 years experiences include EIA / IEE / EMP / Scoping report reviewing works;
EIA work experience in Myanmar is an asset along with understanding the 2015 EIA Procedure;
High level of diplomacy, work in confidence, demonstrated capacity in constructive manner, networking and people skills;
Ability to be based in Naypyidaw in MONREC; and
Excellent writing, communication and analytical skills.

5. Time Frame and Deliverable
Each consultant will be provided 75 days of work to start. An extension contract may be provided with agreement from IFC and ECD should there be a need. The consultants, IFC and ECD will determine a set number of days to work in country followed by breaks of 1-2 weeks. IFC and the consultants will agree on allowances for housing/per diem as part of the contract.

The following deliverables are required:
A short summary of the key issues for each EIA report, identification of the information and gap analysis, any requirements for further technical support, clear recommendation for Project Proponent and EIA Review Team (e.g. rejection, request and resubmission following additional work, approval with conditions);
Monthly report on number and type of reports reviewed highlighting the key findings and challenges;
Recommendation of further processes to strengthen system for reviewing and approving EIA reports within ECD;
Review report on the number of projects for ECC drafted and issued etc.
Meeting minutes with ECD DG and EIA Division Director;
Training materials and/or seminar plans and reports for the on-the-job training provided together with EIA review process.

6: Reporting
The consultants will work under the direction of the Director General of ECD, MONREC. Contractual arrangements will be negotiated with IFC and a detailed timesheet with summary of activities conducted and signed by the DG will be submitted to IFC for monthly payment.


FUNDING SOURCE

The World Bank Group intends to finance the assignment / services described below under the following:
- Environmental and Social Advisory II
-

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility restrictions apply:
[Please type list of restrictions]

INDIVIDUAL / FIRM PROFILE
The consultant should be an individual.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The World Bank Group now invites eligible consultants to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc.). Please note that the total size of all attachments should be less than 5MB.

Interested consultants are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.

Expressions of Interest should be submitted, in English, electronically through World Bank Group eConsultant2 (https://wbgeconsult2.worldbank.org/wbgec/index.html)

NOTES
Following this invitation for Expression of Interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Shortlisting and selection will be subject to the availability of funding.

Documents

 Tender Notice