Impacts during project anticipation in Molas, Indonesia: Implications for social impact assessment

Important impacts can emerge regarding biophysical, economic, social, political/legal, cultural, and psychological aspects during the anticipation stage of a project, as confirmed by a study of impacts during anticipation of proposed tourism developments in the village of Molas, in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The main findings were that during the anticipation phase both the quantity and quality of agriculture production on land acquired by speculators and developers decreased, individuals used the income from the sale of their land to build new homes or improve existing one or to invest in new occupations, exposure to new values and lifestyles made younger people in the village less interested in maintaining traditional values and culture, the local community became marginalized related to planning and development decisions, and considerable fear and anxiety were created for many villagers due to the uncertainty generated by the proposed tourism development. Many of these impacts will not be documented in any environmental impact statement related to the proposed development, because the EIS will be conducted well after the anticipation stage. These findings, and other studies, suggest that SIA is one of the most poorly handled aspects of impact assessment in Indonesia.