Community grievance management experiences
By Ines de Belsunce, security & community outreach manager, Apollo Towers Myanmar Ltd.
Safety and Labor "offline" issues in the
Myanmar Telecoms Sector - 07/10/2016
A community grievance is:
- a concern or a complaint
- raised by an individual or a group affected by company’s operations of behavior.
- real or perceived impacts
- It implies a problem, but in practice, the nature of feedback that communities may want to bring
may vary.
 Unanswered questions or ignored requests for information have the potential to become
problems and should, therefore, be addressed promptly.

The “stats” - at end September 2016
Safety and Labor "offline" issues in the Myanmar Telecoms
Sector - 07/10/2016
6%
6%
7%
9%
10%
12%
17%
19%
19%
28%
28%
35%
42%
47%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
SHAN
YANGON
KAYIN
TANYNTHARI
NAY PYI TAW
MANDALAY
AYARWADDY
MAGWAY
MON
BAGO
SAGAING
KACHIN
RAKHINE
KAYAH
DG noise issue:
enclosure, grid
request, night silence
activation…
40%
Technical issue
4%Local politics (incl. dismantelment request,
and armed group taxation)
10%
Complaints
about vendors
7%
CSR request:
electricity or
road
committee…
Non respect of the
contract: Colocation
refusal, ownership
issues, amendment
requests...
23%
In ethnic states, the percentage of sites with grievances logged is
higher than in other states.
6 different type of grievances.
296 grievances logged since the 1-January 2016
69 still open or in progress, 10 sites down

Grievance management process: all about tracking.
Safety and Labor "offline" issues in the Myanmar Telecoms
Sector - 07/10/2016
Someone logs, precises, identifies
the grievance, and assigns it for
solving.
Someone follows up and does the
necessary until solution is reached.
Community
outreach
team
Grievance
Log
Legal
team Region
al
offices
Grievan
ce and
O&M
hotlines
Vendor
s and
operat
ors
Legal, SAQ,
O&M, or
Community
outreach
Someone receives the grievance
Date of
Grievance
log
TN Site ID
OO site
ID
MPT
site ID
Complainant /
Contact
received
from
Region
Township or
Village
Type of
issue
Action
Owner
internal Detail of issue
Amount
request
ed
Date of
closing
Status
22-Aug-16SG0057 SAW0465
SGG00
675
UAung San
C/O U Myint
Lwin, 09-
73140248
MDLY Sagaing Myaung
Colocation
Issue
Adriaan
Coetsee
Ooredoo and MPT already on air, asking
50,000MMK/month. (250,000/mnth,
3,000,000/annum)
26-aug-16: granted byCEO
50,000
MMK/m
onth.
26-Aug-
16
closed
WEDNESDAY
06
Htay Win - Ayarwaddy
Hinthada > Kyaunggon (2h drive)
AY0323- VCC charges 100L too high
Kyaunggon > Kyaungyidaunt (1h15
drive)
AY1003 - VCC charges too high
Kyaunggyidaunt > Pyapon
Sleep in Pyapon
A thorough planning:
A daily updated log:

The solutions & their challenges
Safety and Labor "offline" issues in the Myanmar Telecoms
Sector - 07/10/2016
The government is
prone to slow reactions,
last minute planning,
micromanagement…
Non understanding on
the technicalities on
grid, amongst the
villagers , making
expectations unrealistic
Blackmail (colocations,
CSR…)
Request NS 6 to 6 but
battery maximum life is
8 hours (9 to 5)
Legal process is a slow
and politically sensitive
legal process
Irrationality of personal
issues coming into
business matters.
Tower companies to join
in a collective action to
hold direct dialogue with
the government,
independently from
operators
Work with local
authorities to enforce
existing laws in the fight
against blackmail., which
include the predomination
of the contract.
Create a communication
leaflet similar to the one
on radiations, on grid
connections simple
technicalities
Letters to political
institutions
CSR investment to
road and electricity
village committees
Enclosure built &
Grid connections
O&M servicing
Night Silence
activation
Legal pursuit
Mediation tables
What we can do to move forward:
The solutions we are applying:
None of them are perfect and the challenges are
multiple:

Safety and Labor "offline" issues in the Myanmar Telecoms
Sector - 07/10/2016
Thank you for your attention