* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
Complaint
On 14 April 2008, the EIB Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM) received a complaint expressing concerns about several issues relating to the environmental impact of the expansion of the Sonae Novobord panel board factory (White River, South Africa) financed by the EIB. The complainants urge the EIB to investigate the project promoter and to make sure that pollution is stopped before it becomes a public health outrage.
EIB-CM Action
The EIB-CM conducted its investigation, actively engaging with all relevant stakeholders. The inquiry included a site visit and meetings with all protagonists.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The EIB-CM has concluded that, regarding the Sonae Novobord project, the EIB services have acted in accordance with the EIB's policies and procedures. At project appraisal, no problem was found by the EIB's competent services regarding legal permits and specific licensing issues. Furthermore, legal compliance of the project promoter in this respect has never been challenged by the competent South Africa authorities, apart from the installation of the new dryer.
Throughout its review, the EIB-CM understands that South Africa legal framework is complex and going through structural changes. In this context and regarding this particular point, the EIB-CM is not in a position to comment further. However, should the legal compliance of the project promoter’s permits and licences be further challenged by, or in front of the South African authorities, the EIB will closely monitor the outcome.
Furthermore, the EIB-CM has identified serious environmental and social concerns that need to be addressed by the project promoter. The identified problems are neither in line with commitments taken by the project promoter at project appraisal time with the EIB services, nor with their responsibility and environmental policies.
The EIB-CM concluded the case with recommendations. The EIB-CM recommends that the measures mentioned in the Conclusions Report (can be found in the “Documents” section below) as well as those that will be part of the Record of Decision concerning the Section 24 G Rectification are implemented for the EIB to proceed with disbursement of the loan part relating to the dryer in accordance with the Finance Contract. The EIB-CM in collaboration with other relevant EIB services will ensure follow-up on the progress of the recommendations and remedial actions no later than 6 and 12 months after the submission of the present conclusions report.