REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON ACCOUNTABILITY & GOVERNANCE ISSUES
The relationship between accountability and governance are of significant nature. The issues of
accountability and governance in major development project was also highlighted by several research
papers. As (Cooke et al, 2017) states “Large hydropower dams present immense social and
environmental challenges for local communities, which can include resettlement of affected
individuals and communities”, this is likely the same problem faced by many communities around the
world who allowed their land for these types of projects. (Cooke et al, 2017) continues to state that
“After decades of hydropower dam building, there is still no comprehensive remedy for the severe
impacts on affected local people”. The government and implementing partners mainly focus on the
outcome of the project, rather than the side-effects it could impact on local communities who are
vulnerable and heavily dependant on the land for fishing, cooking, bathing, washing and other
recreational activities, the development of a dam not only threatens the livelihood of these people, but
also receives unequal shares from the project fundings and some might diverted to external and
political interests (Cooke et al, 2017).
It may seem that, the focus of share benefits and compensation for the destruction of the land mainly
to local communities’ upper stream closer to the dam, land owners in the area the dam have
constructed and forgetting those, who also used the water for survival and all domestic needs, the
downstream communities. (Baird et al, 2021) argues that those living along the river bank
downstream has always left behind and limited concerns are favourable to these communities by the
government, public and environmental consultant, due to the jurisdictional boundaries and impact on
the destruction requires less attention. However, it should be of a common understanding that, the
whole river would be of great impact to those who rely on it for their lifetime. (Baird et al, 2021)
states “With regard to water quality, dams often impede the movement of sediment downstream,
resulting in a range of environmental and social impacts. Hydroregulations can lead to more riverbed
scouring and erosion, and lead to increased sedimentation in rivers downstream. This has impacts on
fish and fish habitat, nutrient growth, human water consumption, and in temperate environments, ice
formation. Erosion can lead to more debris as hazards for navigation”. Although, the government and
funding partners find ways to address these issues as stated by (Schulz and Skinner, 2022) “A growing
number of development banks, international organisations, and professional associations such as the
International Hydropower Association (IHA) have begun to develop guidelines for benefit-sharing”,
insufficient knowledge from landowners and local communities’/grassroots has triggers tensions and
conflicts among these parties. As stated in the paper on “Agents of alienation: accountants and the
land grab of Papua New Guinea” by (Finau et al, 2019), accounting tools can unfairly disposses land
from the land-owning tribes, from lack of accounting knowledge. (Finau et al, 2019), states
“Customary land tenure is extremely important for Indigenous communities as it ensures that the land
will forever belong to the community and will be owned by every legitimate member of the
community”. If only the local communities have promptly involved in decision making to issues
concerning their lands, they would have better stand when development projects are entering their
community. (Finau et al, 2023), encourages by stating “An Indigenous system of accounts can only be
meaningful if it incorporates Indigenous worldviews, includes their participation and establishes
processes to ensure the sustainability of the system of accounts developed”. The more local
communities involved and aware of these major developments the less likely possible tensions and
conflicts arise.
References
Baird, I.G., Silvano, R.A., Parlee, B., Poesch, M., Maclean, B., Napoleon, A., Lepine, M. and
Hallwass, G., 2021. The Downstream impacts of hydropower Dams and Indigenous and local
knowledge: examples from the Peace–Athabasca, Mekong, and Amazon. Environmental
Management, 67, pp.682-696.
Cooke, F.M., Nordensvard, J., Saat, G.B., Urban, F. and Siciliano, G., 2017. The limits of
social protection: the case of hydropower dams and indigenous peoples' land. Asia & the
Pacific Policy Studies, 4(3), pp.437-450.
Finau, G., Jarvis, D., Stoeckl, N., Larson, S., Grainger, D., Douglas, M., Barrowei, R.,
Coleman, B., Groves, D., Hunter, J. and Lee, M., 2023. Accounting for Indigenous cultural
connections to land: insights from two Indigenous groups of Australia. Accounting, Auditing
& Accountability Journal, 36(9), pp.370-389.
Finau, G., Jacobs, K. and Chand, S., 2019. Agents of alienation: Accountants and the land
grab of Papua New Guinea. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 32(5), pp.15581584.
Schulz, C. and Skinner, J., 2022. Hydropower benefit-sharing and resettlement: A conceptual
review. Energy Research & Social Science, 83, p.102342