By Yohei Okabori

The purpose of ODA (Official Development Assistance) is to assist in the improvement of life and the independence of people in the weakest situation and make an equal and, moreover, independent relationship of people from the southern and northern hemispheres. Japanﾕs ODA has been operating with budgets established in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and Industry, and so on. And about ￥546.1 billion a year are used only by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But, till now, it has given assistance which hasnﾕt suited its purpose. There have been plenty of examples where the recipient countries have tortured people. Indonesiaﾕs Koto Panjang Dam Lawsuit is one of those examples. 　　

In 1996, Japanﾕs Government and JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) contributed about ￥31.2 billion of ODA from Japan. The Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) conducted investigations, projects and supervisions, and finally, the Koto Panjang Dam was constructed. This is a hydroelectric power generation dam of 114,000 kilowatts, located just beneath the equator in the middle of Indonesiaﾕs Sumatra Island.　However, although this dam was completed more than five years ago, the power plant generated only about 15 percent of its capacity and they have only had just five full operation days so far. The greatest cause for that situation was that both Japanese and Indonesian politicians, bureaucrats, general companies and consulting companies decided the maximum capacity of the plant according to an exaggerated calculation of the electricity demanded there. They did this in order to make a profit for themselves.

Different large-scale environmental destruction and many abuses of human rights have been caused by the construction of this dam.　The first environmental destruction was of a large-scale tropical rain forest within the dam site which was flooded and is now under water. Second is the environmental destruction of areas inhabited by Sumatra elephants, tigers and other rare and protected animals facing starvation. Third is the water quality deterioration caused by tree corrosion within the dam reservoir, which in turn caused the wholesale deaths of fish. Fourth is an increase of mosquito larva in shallow waters that has the potential to trigger a Malaria epidemic.

When it comes to the abuse of human rights, about 5,000 establishments were shut down and 23,000 people have been relocated to land which is too sterile for growing crops, making it difficult to get enough food to eat, and children are no longer able to go to school.

Did any of the people who constructed the Koto Panjang Dam for their own interest ever think of the damage it would cause people or how that dam―which has been used for their unjust profits―would cause such environmental destruction? ODA comes from our Japanese taxes, postal savings and so on. Rather than helping the people of Indonesian, this money has contributed to their torture.　　

On September 5, 2002,　a total of 3,861 victims filed suit in the Tokyo District Court against the Japanese government, JBIC, Tokyo Electric Power Services Co. and JICA, demanding the dismantling of the dam and the restoration of the area to its original state and monetary compensation.　For this suit the plaintiffs have applied to the court for ”lawsuit-assistance” (a system which guarantees the jurisdiction for poor people). In this case, the stamp charges were ￥50,000 per each plaintiff, making the sum total about ￥200 million. The stamp charges of ￥50,000 is a half- to one-year income for each plaintiff, which is the purpose of lawsuit-assistance. Every application for a lawsuit-assistance is based on the exchange of information between the plaintiff and the court.

However, in December, 2002, four defendants submitted their opinion paper seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit-assistance application. It is rare for defendants to protest against the lawsuit-assistance. The four defendants act like barefaced trial killers, and their way was very dirty.

On March 28, 2003, an additional 4,535 victims made a supplementary indictment, making the total plaintiffs 8,396 people, which is a majority of the adult people in the area. This group of plaintiff is the largest in the history of the court in Japan. What do Japanﾕs government, JBIC, Tokyo Electric Power Services Co. and JICA think about this situation? Has anything really changed? So far we could not feel any human emotions in their remarks and actions.

Funds for ODA are Japanese national ”taxes.” Do Japanese citizens know about this dam and this lawsuit? We Japanese must observe the result of this trial as well as study the flow of our taxes thoroughly, not only for those victims, but also for Japanese credibility.