The NCEA advised on a work plan for a project that served to formulate an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) for the city of Beira. After finalization of the project, the NCEA also issued an advisory review of the resulting ICZMP. It identified a number of shortcomings and recommended actions for improvement.
Significant details
In Beira there is an acute danger of land being lost to the sea. This danger was to be remedied by emergency civil engineering works as part of a comprehensive plan to improve the long-term security and sustainable development of the Beira coastal region: an integrated coastal zone management plan. In a work period of six months the project was to select the necessary emergency works and establish the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan. The Commission was asked to provide advice after conclusion of the tender procedure for the project. The Dutch Embassy asked the Commission to advise on (i) a work plan¹ for the project, including the selection of emergency works to be carried out under the project, and (ii) elements to be addressed in the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan. In November 1998 a delegation of the working group evaluated progress with implementing the project and attended the presentation of its results to Beira Municipal Council.
At the time of the first site visit the work plan is not finalized. Therefore, in its advice, the working group focuses on the contents of the work plan, advising on the approach to follow for ICZM-planning and the main points of attention. The work plan, once finalized, does not reach the working group. A first draft of the final report of the project, containing the ICZM-plan, reaches the working group in September 1998. A second draft follows in November 1998. In the same month a delegation of the working group visits Beira and the emergency works under execution. The delegation attends the second meeting of the Forum that guides the project. A third draft final report reaches the working group in December followed by the final report in April. The Embassy asks the Commission to review the report keeping in mind that follow-up support for coastal zone management is considered.
In the review, amongst other things, the Commission concludes that local government is insufficiently involved in the planning process and that it remains unclear whether the stakeholders ‘own’ the plan, that on coastal morphology a good problem analysis is presented but on other issues no problem analysis is given, that the institutional analysis is superficial and not very complete and that the action plan provides a useful checklist but that priority setting and budgeting are incomplete. The advice formulates recommendations for further action.
¹To be submitted by the contractor at the end of the first month of the project period.