Trial resumes over ODA-funded project

Trial resumes over ODA-funded project

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.