Villagers and Walhi sue Japanese government over Kotopanjang dam project
Wednesday, July 2 2003 - 04:00 AM WIB
About 8,000 villages in West Sumatra and Riau province, and the Walhi environmental group are jointly suing the Japanese government on the behalf of Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) and Tokyo Electric Power Services Co (TEPSCO) over their involvement in the construction of the Kotopanjang dam project, Kompas reported on Wednesday
The construction of the dam, which would be used to support a 114-MW power plant, has sunk 12 villages located within 124 kilometer-area in the two provinces and about 8,000 villagers lost their houses and properties.
Chairil Syah, the lawyer of the villagers, said that the legal suit filed at a Tokyo district would begin its trial process on Thursday. The villagers and Walhi are represented by three Japanese lawyers including Oguchi Akihiko, Furkawa Yosimi and Asano Fumio.
He said that the displaced villagers and Walhi would file similar suits against the Indonesian government, the provincial administrations of West Sumatra and Riau provinces in September, this year. (*)