Jananese ODA destroys local environment, forcing animals face starvation

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020906a3.htm

 

JAPANESE ODA PROJECT SLAMMED

Sumatra Island residents file dam lawsuit

 

Nearly 3,900 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island

on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Tokyo, each seeking 5

million yen for damages caused by a dam Japan funded

with official development assistance.

 

In the suit, the first of its kind over ODA, the 3,861

plaintiffs claim they were forcibly resettled after

the Kotopanjang Dam was completed in 1997.

 

Among those named as defendants in the suit, brought

before the Tokyo District Court, are the Japanese

government and its foreign assistance body, the Japan

International Cooperation Agency, the state-run Japan

Bank for International Cooperation and Tokyo Electric

Power Services Co., an affiliate of Tokyo Electric

Power Co., Japan's largest utility.

 

The hydroelectric dam was built at a cost of some 31

billion yen and paid for with a yen-denominated

government loan.

 

The plaintiffs said they have become " developmental

refugees " because they have been left without proper

living facilities, including clean water, on the land

where they were resettled, and with no job

opportunities.

 

The dam, located in the middle of the island on the

border between Riau and West Sumatra provinces, has

also damaged the natural environment in the area, they

said, noting elephants and other animals face

starvation.

 

The plaintiffs are also demanding that the defendants

urge the Indonesian government to remove the dam and

restore their living conditions and the natural state.

 

On Thursday, 15 local residents wearing T-shirts

emblazoned with a " No More ODA " slogan submitted the

complaint to the court along with thousands of letters

by proxy.

 

The Japanese lawyers said more than 1,000 local

residents will later join the suit at the Japanese

court.

 

Adhel Yusirman, an Indonesian lawyer who accompanied

the plaintiffs, said they will file a lawsuit in

Indonesia in October, urging the Indonesian government

to return to their former level the living standards.

 

They also plan to seek an inquiry into whether Japan's

ODA for the dam project was used appropriately.

 

Plaintiff Masrul Salim, 49, told reporters he expects

the Japanese government to halt its ODA payments to

Indonesia until the Kotopanjang Dam problem is

settled.

 

The plaintiffs are represented by a group of Japanese

lawyers headed by Akihiko Oguchi, who is based in

Tokyo.

 

Japanese supporters, including scholars and citizens'

movement activists, said they expect the lawsuit to

present an opportunity to review how ODA is used.

 

They said Japanese ODA-funded development projects are

increasingly seen as inefficient as far as improving

living conditions in recipient countries, while only

Japanese consulting firms and construction companies

actually benefit.

 

Oguchi said the Japanese supporters plan to file a

taxpayers' suit, claiming the government misused

public funds to pay for the dam in Indonesia.

 

" Given the cozy relations among politicians,

bureaucrats and business leaders, Japan's ODA destroys

culture, the environment and the way of living of

local residents under the pretext of assistance, " said

Yoshinori Murai, a professor at Sophia University.

 

Murai, a specialist in Indonesia studies, said

democratization in the wake of President Suharto's

downfall in May 1998 paved the way for the plaintiffs

to work actively with Japanese lawyers and supporters.

 

" We can see cases of misuse of Japan's ODA not only in

Kotopanjang but also in other development projects,

such as in the Philippines, " he said. " I expect more

suits to follow. "

 

The Japan Times: Sept. 6, 2002

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