Trial resumes in Japan-Riau project dispute

Haidir Anwar Tanjung The Jakarta Post Pekanbaru, Riau

The Tokyo District Court will resume the trial in the case involving Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) on Thursday over a controversial hydroelectric power plant project (PLTA) in Kampar regency, Riau province.

The trial will hear a defense plea from the defendants including the Tokyo Electric Power Service, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), as well as from the ODA.

In the first day of the hearing on Sept. 5, 2003, Japanese senior lawyer Fumio Asano, on behalf of 3,861 Indonesian villagers affected by the ODA-funded project, demanded that the court order the defendants to pay the plaintiffs US$165 million in compensation.

The plaintiffs, comprising those from two villages in Riau and 12 others in neighboring West Sumatra province, are being assisted by several non-governmental organizations, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

"In the upcoming trial on Oct. 9, we will hear answers from the defendants," Riau's Walhi director M. Teguh told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said the plaintiffs wanted the Japanese authorities to be held responsible for the Kotopanjang power project in Koto Kampar subdistrict, which they said had caused environmental damage in nearby areas.

The ODA gave Indonesia 31.77 billion yen (around Rp 2.1 trillion) to finance the PLTA project that started operation in February 1998 with a capacity of 338 megawatts.

Teguh said that Walhi has also filed a separate lawsuit against the same Japanese defendants, demanding that they rehabilitate the habitats of wild animals, like Sumatran tigers and elephants, which were damaged by the PLTA dam project.

The legal action was taken because the project operators had promised to give assistance funds to safeguard the protected species from extinction, he argued.

However, he added that the promised funds had never been disbursed.

Separately on Monday, Mohamad Zajali, director of Riau's Kalipatra non-governmental organization that is also assisting the 3,861 plaintiffs, said around 23,000 villagers had been relocated for the project but did not receive proper compensation for their land.

The victims from the affected 12 villages were intimidated by local authorities involved in the project construction, he said.

Zajali said these grievances were aired by Fumio Asano during the first trial at the Tokyo District Court.

Moreover, thousands of hectares of farmland and rubber plantations belonging to local residents often become submerged in floodwaters as the Kampar river was dammed up for the PLTA project, he said.

He accused the project operators of also failing to fulfill their promise to give the victims two hectares of rubber plantation per family in compensation.

The project was carried out when the current Riau governor, Saleh Djasit, served as the Kampar regent. However, to this point, the problems with the compensation has not been settled yet.

Zajali said the legal move against the Japan government and its agencies won support from Kazou Sumi, a law professor from the Niigata National University in Tokyo.

Sumi was quoted by Zajuli as saying the case highlighted damages suffered by local people as a result of Japan-funded projects.

So far, the Japanese government has financed public works projects in the interests of Japan's politicians, bureaucrats and construction companies, and officials from countries who received the assistance, Sumi added.