Whale vote bought, minister resigns

[Guest guest]

Our whale vote was bought, says minister

The Advertiser

By Environment Reporter BELINDA HEGGEN

07jul00

 

A CARIBBEAN Government minister has resigned after claiming Japan bought his

country's vote at the International Whaling Commission.

 

Dominica's fisheries minister, Atherton Martin, said yesterday his Cabinet

had originally voted to abstain in Tuesday's vote over a planned South

Pacific Whale Sanctuary.

Speaking from Dominica, Mr Martin said he tabled his resignation shortly

after discovering the Caribbean nation had defied the Cabinet decision and

voted against the sanctuary.

 

Dominica joined Japan in voting against the sanctuary proposal, which failed

to win three quarters majority support.

 

Mr Martin said Japan had given his country - which has a population of just

over 70,000 people - about $7 million for new fisheries facilities since it

joined the commission.

 

This included a new fisheries complex with offices, conference room and fish

storage facilities.

 

Mr Martin claimed the money was tied to Dominica supporting Japan in

commission meetings.

 

He described Japan as " an international extortionary outlaw " . " If Japan

didn't have this influence Dominica wouldn't have any business as a member

of this political organisation. We're not a whaling nation, we are a

whale-watching nation, " Mr Martin said.

 

Japanese Government spokesman Komatsu Masayuki rejected the accusations and

made his own claims about Mr Martin being controlled by conservation groups.

 

" Atherton Martin is a plant by the non-government organisations to try and

influence the Dominican Government, " he said.

 

Mr Masayuki reiterated Japan's comments in relation to previous allegations

of vote buying, saying his country gave aid to 150 countries, including ones

which did not vote with Japan.

 

Dominica commissioner Lloyd Pascal also denied the allegations, saying Mr

Martin's resignation was an attempt to destabilise the newly elected

Dominican Government.

 

Mr Pascal said Dominica's vote was made under the direction of Dominica's

recently elected Prime Minister, Roosevelt Douglas.

 

He said the Prime Minister decided to strip Mr Martin of his fisheries role

and the business of the commission was now under the Prime Minister's

ministry of foreign affairs department.

 

Mr Pascal refused to answer questions about who was paying Dominica's

registration fees at the commission meeting being held in Adelaide.

 

News of the resignation was announced by Dominica Conservation Association

board member Mona George-Dill at a press conference on the last day of

commission meetings.

 

She claimed her country's initial decision to abstain over the sanctuary

proposal was met with swift action.

 

" When the decision was made to decide our own direction in how we voted in

this international forum we had a delegation of Japanese come (to our

island) to tell us they saw our decision as a hostile act, " she said.

 

" What I'm concerned about is when you have a powerful international

government looking at very micro economies and holding them to ransom for

development aid. "