IFC requires that this document is made available through the World Bank InfoShop and to the locally affected community no less than 30 days prior to project consideration by the IFC Board of Directors.

The Summary of Project Information (SPI) provides details of where the full EIA has been made available to the locally affected community. The SPI must be sent to InfoShop no less than 30 days prior to project consideration by the IFC Board of Directors.

This is a Category B project, according to IFC’s Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of Projects because a limited number of specific environmental and social impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. The review of this project consisted of appraising technical and environmental/social information submitted by the project sponsor. The following potential environmental, health and safety and social impacts of the project were analyzed:

• corporate environmental and social management system to ensure compliance of project facilities with local requirements and World Bank policies and guidelines;
• tower site development, including site selection criteria, land acquisition procedures, access road construction, control of hazardous materials including liquid fuels, and development of previously undisturbed land; and
• workplace health and safety and training programs.

Meditel has established turnkey equipment supply contracts with two suppliers (Ericsson of Sweden and Siemens of Germany) in order to achieve the geographical coverage required within the short time frame for launch of service. Meditel is consolidating its environmental and social responsibilities within a Network Quality Department, now being put in place. Site acquisition for base transceiver stations (cell towers) and other equipment sites is the responsibility of the suppliers, under Meditel’s direction. Cell towers and other equipment sites are located on leased property, on both public and private lands. Because the sites are primarily located in urbanized areas and along highways and utility corridors, environmental and social impacts are minor, and to date the company has not encountered any objections to towers on environmental grounds. In the event that activities will cause the physical or economic displacement of people, Meditel will consult with IFC and, as appropriate, submit a plan for relocation. Meditel''s turnkey contracts require minimizing impacts on the environmental as well as compliance with all applicable environmental requirements. There are also provisions for compliance with all labor obligations including workplace health and safety and accident prevention.

Environmental management guidelines are applicable to all sites, including such items as land clearing, management of liquid discharges, appropriate practices for waste disposal, waste recycling, safe management and storage of fuel, and contingency plans for spills and fire emergencies. Permits and approvals are obtained where required by local authorities. All equipment used in the network is new, and thus no phase out of existing equipment containing PCBs or Halon is required. No equipment or central cooling systems involving the use of CFCs will be installed.

Total employees are currently around 300 (including 18 expatriates), which will rise to over 400 by end 2000. Meditel is instilling the requisite telecommunications industry skills in its staff through recruitment of motivated Moroccan nationals and an intensive training program. Medital has four permanent trainers on the payroll and organizes a wide range of internal training sessions comprising about 100 technical and 25 commercial training courses. In addition, 100 technicians have been sent to Ericsson and Telefonica for technical training.

Accordingly, IFC concludes that the proposed project will meet the applicable World Bank/IFC environmental and social policies and the environmental, health and safety guidelines upon successful implementation of the agreed mitigation measures.

IFC will evaluate the project''s compliance with the applicable environmental and social requirements during the lifetime of the project by reviewing the annual monitoring reports (AMRs) prepared for the project and by conducting periodic site supervision visits.