IFC’s appraisal considered the environmental and social management planning process and documentation for the Project and gaps, if any, between these and IFC’s requirements. Where necessary, corrective measures, intended to close these gaps within a reasonable period of time, are summarized in the paragraphs that follow and (if applicable) in an agreed Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP). Through implementation of these measures, the Project is expected to be designed and operated in accordance with Performance Standards objectives.
PS 1: Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Impacts
Identification of Risks and Impacts: The company has obtained planning permit from Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), and also obtained approval from Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUBDC). The company also submits monthly progress report to DUBDC. The company will also obtain permits from other authorities, as required before operation of the service apartment. The company initiated an environment impact assessment (EIA) in 2022, which was followed by a public hearing process. Per the hearing discussions, EIA was revised and was submitted to related authorities for approval in 2023 (please refer to Annex 1 for EIA). As part of ESAP #1, the company will provide IFC a copy of the approval of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) from the relevant Ministry.
Based on the EIA and approval of the ministry, the company will implement all required mitigation and monitoring measures.
Policy, Management Systems and Programs: Currently the company does not have any E&S policy or management systems. As per ESAP# 2, the company will develop an EHS/Sustainability policy, and an E&S management system (ESMS) in line with the IFC PS requirements.
The hotel will be designed and operated in compliance with operator’s environmental principles, human rights, global employment and supply chain principles.
Organizational capacity: The company has a project team, consisting of a project manager and an engineer, who are responsible for management of construction activities and monitoring of construction contractors. The construction contractor has a dedicated health and safety (H&S) officer responsible for the implementation of construction phase EHS plan. During operation stage, hotel operations will be monitored by Operator’s team. As per ESAP#3, the company will develop an E&S organizational structure, with an E&S officer, to oversee the compliance of the operational phase practices to be inline with IFC PS requirements.
Monitoring and Reporting: Typically, the E&S performance of the hotel is monitored and reported by Operator to assess progress against its E&S commitments. The results are incorporated in its annual sustainability report. In addition, as per the ESAP #2, as a part of the ESMS, the company will develop an EHS monitoring and reporting procedure which will specify minimum key performance indicators (KPIs)/parameters to be monitored, with monitoring frequencies and type and the definition of thresholds that signal the need for corrective actions. The EHS monitoring procedure will be aligned with the requirements of the approved EIA, applicable legal requirements and WBG General EHS guidelines and WBG EHS guidelines for Tourism and Hospitality Development (2007).
Emergency Preparedness and Response: There is an emergency response and preparedness plan for the construction stage. As part of ESAP#4, the company will develop Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (ERRP) commensurate with the risks of the facility, especially factoring in climate-related events (such as urban flooding, landslide, etc.) and earthquake, and among others the ERRP will include the following basic elements: Administration (policy, purpose, distribution, definitions, etc); Organization of emergency areas (command centers, medical stations, etc); Roles and responsibilities; communication systems; emergency response procedures; emergency resources; training and updating; checklists (role and action list and equipment checklist). Operator will implement crisis management/emergency response plans for the hotel and will train the hotel staff for the operational phase.
PS 2: Labour and Working Conditions:
Terms and condition of employment: For the construction stage, the construction contractor has developed a HR manual in line with the local regulations which is currently implemented for the contractor staff and the sub-contract workers. The construction contractor’s staffs are provided joining letter and the contract workers are provided induction regarding terms and condition of employment as per the local regulations. When operational, the service apartment will employ around 50 employees. Operator has adopted Global Employment Policies, which acknowledges and respects the principles contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The policies cover prevention of child labor, elimination of forced and bonded labor, non-discrimination, freedom of association, legal compliance and providing a safe and healthy work environment. As per ESAP#5, for the operational phase, the company will execute the employment contracts adhering with local labor code and PS2 requirements with all employees including providing training/information to workers about the terms and conditions of employment.
Grievance Mechanism (GM): During the construction stage, the workers at the construction site can report to the supervisor directly in case of any grievances. For the operational phase, the operator’s grievance mechanism as well as labour relations committee (LRC), to be formed as per law, will be accessible to the workers. The hotel additionally will have dedicated code of conduct (CoC) and detailed GM for prevention and addressing complaints related to sexual harassment in line with the local Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention) Act.
Freedom of Association: Nepal labor code supports freedom of association and the formation of collective bargaining committee (CBC). Once it is operational, hotel operation will be conducted in line with Nepal labor code, which is in compliance with IFC PS2 requirements. In Nepal, workers in hotels are part of one of the registered unions [e.g., Nepal Independent Hotel, Casino and Restaurant Workers Union, All Nepal Revolutionary Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union]. These unions then negotiate and signs a collective bargaining agreement with Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Operator human rights policy articulates Operators commitment to freedom of association and the right to choose a collective bargaining representative, if desired (https://www.marriott.com/marriottassets/Multimedia/PDF/Corporate/HumanRightsStatement.pdf).
Third Party Workers: The construction contractor has around 25 staffs, 20 direct workers, and 100 indirect workmen mobilized for the construction. For the operational phase, the hotel is expected to hire third party service providers mainly for housekeeping and security. The Operator has publicly disclosed its Supplier Conduct Principles (https://serve360.marriott.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Supplier-Conduct-Guidelines2.pdf) and requires its suppliers to comply with applicable legal requirements, providing inclusive environment, supporting elimination of forced and bonded labor as well as child labor and operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Labour accommodation: For the construction phase, dedicated labor accommodation is provided with access to electricity, drinking water, sanitation facilities, bedding, and dedicated cooking area for separate sub- contractors, in line with IFC’s Good Practice Note on Worker’s Accommodation. The supervisory category staffs of the contractor are accommodated in the nearby residential building leased by the contractor. The operational stage will not require accommodation for the employees.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS): The company has its own project team responsible for the management and monitoring the construction contractor on-site. The contractor has developed plans for EHS, emergency response and preparedness, and consolidated the E&S management plan in line with EIA requirements. The company monitors its contractors E&S performance through the monthly progress reports including total manpower, manhour worked every month and till date, incidents and fatal accident, mandays lost, details of safety activities undertaken at site such as safety patrolling, safety induction for new workers and refresher training for other workers, monthly safety meeting, including identified hazards and corrective action planned. Toolbox discussions include daily E&S risk analysis and safety inductions. There is no fatality and/or significant incident during the construction phase. Induction checklist is followed for all new workers coming to the construction site, followed by refresher training and toolbox talks in the morning.
During the operations stage operator OHS procedures will be implemented, as per local code, which are generally inline with IFC PS requirements and include establishment of Safety and Health (S&H) Committee to review, guide, monitor, improve and report the performance to company’s management.
PS 3: Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention:
Water and energy supply: Water for the hotel will be sourced both from Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) as well as on-site borewell. Potable water for all domestic needs will be treated onsite to meet the local potable water quality and WHO standards.
The electricity will be sourced from the grid. The private apartment will have one diesel generator (DG) of 400 KVA capacity, while service apartment will have one DG set of 625 KVA capacity with acoustic enclosure and stack of adequate height for back-up power including fire-fighting load & critical load. DG sets will have inbuilt diesel tank and no separate diesel tank is considered.
Resource Efficiency: The design of the service apartments includes measures to minimize heat gain, such as installation of proper insulation and shading devices. The service apartments will also have energy-efficient appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators. Further, smart technologies and automation systems will be implemented to optimize energy usage based on occupancy and external conditions.
The Project will use efficient dual flush water closets, urinals with sensors and auto shut-off/aerators in taps in guest rooms and aerators for taps in guest rooms. Guest rooms, corridors, outdoors and toilets will be provided with LED lighting. The lights in the corridors will be controlled with time controls/movement sensors and will switch off every second light. The bathrooms will have occupancy sensors for controlled lighting. Additionally, the hotel will have an integrated building management system for monitoring various key parameters of electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, and fire-fighting systems.
Air emissions and Greenhouse Gases (GHG): Emissions are expected to be primarily from backup DGs. The DG set emissions (and treated effluent quality) will be monitored and managed in accordance with environmental permit conditions and as part of the monitoring framework discussed under PS1. The total GHG emissions (Scope 1 and Scope 2) for the project will be 6.12 tCO2e/year.
Waste Water: There will be a STP on-site to treat wastewater as per local standards. The treated wastewater will be used for toilet flushing and gardening and remaining will be discharged in the municipal sewerage system.
Hazardous Material and Waste Management: The construction waste will include used oil from back up DG set, lubricants, paints and solvents (to be used once mechanical, engineering and plumbing work is completed). The hazardous waste is segregated from other waste streams and disposed in line with regulatory provisions. For the operational phase, typical chemicals will include cleaning/maintenance chemicals, pest control, etc. which will be stored and used as per the material safety data sheet (MSDS) prepared for each of the chemicals. During the operational phase, the non-recyclable waste will be disposed of at the landfill site of the Kathmandu Metropolitan city. The other recyclable solid waste (paper waste, packaging materials, plastics etc.) will be segregated and recycled by local agencies. Food waste will be disposed of either through municipal waste disposal system or provided as animal feed to local pig farms. Used oil (from the back-up diesel generator maintenance) and batteries will be disposed of through authorized recyclers.
PS 4: Community Health Safety and Security
Structural Safety: The design is primarily in line with the Nepal National Building Code NBC: 105:2020, “Seismic Design of Buildings in Nepal”, and the relevant codes of British Standards and/or, European Standards are referred, especially for the areas/provisions that are not addressed in the Indian Standards or as required for the purpose of design. As per ESAP# 6, the company will obtain a certification by qualified structural safety professional, to confirm that that the project has been designed in line with NBC as well as Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) on seismic design considerations. Post completion a qualified structural safety professional will certify that the building has been constructed as per the approved design.
Life & Fire Safety (L&FS): The hotel’s systems are designed with respect to Nepal NBC requirements and Operator’s Fire Protection and Life Safety Design standards which are based on Unites States’ National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. Operator’s L&FS team will review the design of the building complex (especially the service apartment) with respect to these standards as well as will verify the implementation on-site before commissioning of the service apartments. The company will keep required documentation confirming this review by Operator at design and post-construction stages for the hotel.
The fire detection & alarm system will include: intelligent addressable type fire alarm panels with integrated analog public address system, manual call point, hooter cum strobe & telephone jacks for common areas (such as lift lobby/corridor at each floor level) and common service areas (such as electrical LT Panel, substation, plumbing & plant room).
Traffic: The proposed building complex is located along the main ring road of the city; however, vehicle access to the site for building material and waste material disposal is being done through a road adjacent to the residential areas. As part of the construction ESMP, traffic control provisions are provided- as per which the contractor will follow-up all traffic related complaints from the neighbours on an immediate basis. Dedicated security personnel are provided to guide traffic and movement of site vehicles. During operations, adequate parking space is provided for the private apartment and service apartments.
Security: The company has hired unarmed private security personnel for the construction stage. During the operation of the service apartment, unarmed private security guard will be hired through external agency.
