Mekong Watch CATFISH TALES
24 May 2002 Issue #1
CONTENTS
1. Announcement: New Mekong Watch Japan E-mail newsletter
2. Japanese Policy News: Japan Bank for International Cooperation adopts
new Environmental Guidelines
3. Japanese Policy News: "Working Group for MOFA Reform"-- from the
midterm report
4. Public Action: Japanese Public Opposes Japanese Ambassador's "Warning"
to Thai Government
5. Project Update: Japanese Government signs E/N with Burma's junta for
rehabilitation of hydropower plant
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1. Announcement: NEW ENGLISH NEWSLETTER
Greetings from Mekong Watch Japan. Until now, we have been a reliable
source of information on Japanese official involvement in development in
the Mekong Region. Little did anyone expect us to start weaving fish tales.
Please rest at ease; this is not going to change. We are starting a new
English e-mail newsletter called "Catfish Tales," taken from the beloved
Mekong Catfish.
Since Japanese government, corporate, and NGO involvement in development in
the Mekong Region is significant, we are striving to improve dissemination
of information in English. We hope that this information will make it
easier for you to keep updated on Japanese policy relevant to the region as
well as the current status of specific development projects.
In principle, we would like to send this once every 2 weeks. Should
something urgent arise, however, we will send out information more often.
General Contents of Newsletter:
* Information regarding specific development projects in the Mekong
Region, especially in regard to Japanese official involvement
* Information regarding Japanese policy relevant to the Mekong Region
* Translation of important articles into English from the Japanese press
* Occasional analysis or commentary
* Interesting anecdotes
TO CONTINUE RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER, please send a message to us at
Mekong Watch Japan
<mekong-w@co.xdsl.ne.jp>
In order to prevent overloading you with unwanted mail, we will not send
this newsletter to you again unless we hear from you. A simple response is
sufficient, but if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for
this newsletter, please feel free to include those as well.
With best wishes from Mekong Watch.
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2. Japanese Policy News: NEW JBIC ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES
On 1 April 2002, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
adopted a new set of environmental guidelines. These guidelines will come
into effect on 1 October 2003. In the meantime, JBIC will prepare its own
administration as well as inform recipient countries of the new
policy. According to a JBIC news release, JBIC hopes to be able to
implement key elements of the guidelines by October of this year. Such key
elements include a new checklist, category classification, disclosure of
the category classification, and disclosure of environmental reviews.
The official English version of the guidelines is currently being
prepared. Look forward to seeing them in a future issue of Catfish Tales.
MAIN POINTS to be aware of:
a. There is an emphasis on consultation with stakeholders, including
project affected communities, from early stages of project planning.
b. Compared to previous guidelines, there are stronger provisions for
information disclosure, including disclosure of EIAs.
c. Information disclosure is supposed to be timely.
d. Screening and environmental reviews must be conducted before final
decisions are made on funding.
e. Disbursement of funds can be suspended if adverse environmental/social
impacts come to light after funding has begun (if those impacts were not
foreseen due to failure of relevant parties to supply correct information
during the review processes)
f. Alternatives must be examined, including the "without project" situation.
While these guidelines are a marked improvement over previous guidelines,
there are still areas of concern.
CONCERNS:
1. There is no clear compliance mechanism. In the guidelines, it states
that JBIC will accept objections regarding non-compliance. There is
concern that this will not be sufficient. Discussions for an appropriate
compliance mechanism have now begun, however, among relevant ministries,
JBIC and NGOs.
2. There are many points which are mentioned in ambiguous terms regarding
important issues such as involuntary resettlement and timing of information
disclosure. JBIC's response so far has been to say that these issues will
be clarified in the form of FAQ's ("frequently asked questions") which will
be made available on the website by October 2002. There are concerns
regarding the binding power of FAQ's should conflict arise over
interpretation and/or implementation of the guidelines.
It seems that the English version of the guidelines will be the official
version, so when it is released, we will provide more detailed
information. Please contact us should you have any questions.
PROCESS BEHIND NEW GUIDELINES:
The process of developing the guidelines was extraordinary considering the
way policies are usually made in Japan. Ministry and JBIC officials,
academics, and NGO representatives came together to form a study group and
drafted a proposed set of guidelines. While study group members all
participated in their individual capacity and not as representatives of the
ministries or organizations they belonged to, the fact that this range of
participation was accomplished provided much legitimacy to the resulting
recommendations. JBIC was able to use the recommendations from the study
group in drafting the final guidelines. Six public consultation forums
were held to get public feedback, and the final draft was adopted on 1
April 2002.
JBIC was established in 1999 as a result of a merger between the
Export-Import Bank of Japan and the Official Economic Development Fund, and
it is now a major implementing agency for Japan's external economic policy
and economic cooperation.
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3. Japanese Policy News: "Working Group for MOFA Reform" Mid-Term Report
On 9 May, the "Working Group for MOFA Reform" released its midterm report
(available in Japanese on MOFA'S website).
This Working Group was formed after Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi
announced "10 Points for MOFA reform" in mid February this year. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs had just been hit with a series of scandals,
and the reputation of the Ministry among the Japanese public was
plunging. As the new Foreign Minister, it was a good time to introduce
reform. As part of the reform measures, a "Working Group for MOFA Reform"
was established, with members from companies, an NGO, the media, and
academics. In the mid-term report of the Working Group, they have outlined
the problem points related to each of the 10 Points announced by FM
Kawaguchi, summarized the discussions of the points thus far, and proposed
possible measures.
Mekong Watch is particularly interested in point number 5, "Improving
Efficiency and Transparency of ODA." In this discussion, the Working Group
suggests that it is necessary to develop environmental guidelines for Grant
Aid.
As mentioned above (Topic 2), JBIC has adopted new environmental
guidelines. These guidelines do not apply to grant aid, however, because
grant aid is controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and does not go
through JBIC. There are no guidelines for the Foreign Ministry to follow
which can ensure that social and environmental factors are included in
decision making on grant aid. Yet it has recently been brought to light
that there are projects such as the Baluchaung No2 Hydropower Plant in
Burma, 2KR projects (provision of unnecessary chemical fertilizers and
pesticides), and debt relief grants which have social and environmental
repercussions, but these considerations have not been adequately
incorporated into the decision making regarding these projects.
Mekong Watch was actively involved in the development of JBIC's new
environmental guidelines, and agrees with the Working Group for MOFA Reform
that there is a need for guidelines for grant aid. Should you have any
information regarding Japanese grant aid projects in the Mekong region
which have had detrimental social or environmental impacts, we would
appreciate information. Thank you!
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4. Public Action: Japanese Public Opposes Japanese Ambassador's "Warning"
to Thai Government
On 2 May 2002, a letter was sent to Japanese Ambassador in Thailand, Mr.
Atsushi Tokinoya to protest his interventions to the Thai Government
regarding two coal-fired power plants in Prachuab Kiri Khan Province,
Thailand. Japanese companies were expected to receive contracts for these
projects and loans and trade insurance were expected from JBIC and NEXI
(Nippon Export Investment Insurance) respectively.
These two projects have been subject to much opposition by local
communities due to both social and environmental impacts they are expected
to have. Homes of opposition leaders have been shot at and bombed. The
Thai government began reconsidering the projects and there was speculation
that the government might even cancel them. It was in this context that
the Japanese Ambassador allegedly said, "canceling the projects will
negatively affect the investment environment of Thailand."
Japanese NGOs, POs and individuals were very upset to see the Japanese
Ambassador intervening for Japanese business interests at the possible
expense of the health and welfare of Thai communities. The letter calls on
the Ambassador to apologize for and retract his statement, and ensure the
Thai public that such conduct will not be repeated in the future.
If you would like to see the entire letter, please contact
<simsalam@nifty.com>. It is rather long to paste here. It will also be
put up on Mekong Watch's English website when the site is functional
(hopefully soon!).
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5. News: Japanese Government signs E/N with Burma's junta for
rehabilitation of hydropower plant
On 10 May 2002, the Japanese government and the military regime in Burma
signed the Exchange of Notes (E/N) for a grant to rehabilitate the
Baluchaung No2 Hydropower Plant located in Karenni State, Burma. The E/N
for the first phase of the project was for 628 million yen, and the
entire project is expected to reach 3-3.5 billion yen (approximately 28
million US dollars).
According to a press release from the Japanese embassy in Rangoon, "the
objective of the project is to rehabilitate the six generators and
associated substation equipment and accessories essential for the operation
of these generators".
This is, as mentioned in Topic 3, a grant aid project under the supervision
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
RE: SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Mekong Watch recognizes that simple replacement of parts may not cause
large environmental impacts, but we are very concerned that sufficient
studies on environmental and social impacts have not been
conducted. Mekong Watch conducted a survey of refugees from the area, and
our findings, as well as reports from other NGOs indicate that the area
around the hydropower plant is militarized and that battalions stationed
there are responsible for various restrictions and human rights violations
against villagers in the area. Such problems include forced labor by the
military, water policy that prioritizes the power plant over farmers' needs
for water, landmines, and restrictions on villagers' movements which makes
farming difficult or impossible.
These concerns have been expressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by
NGOs, MPs, and others, but MOFA has responded that its own surveys show
that there are no such serious concerns in relation to this project and
that local communities are in favor of the repairs.
Mekong Watch is concerned that the Ministry's survey of the Baluchaung
Hydropower Plant was organized by and conducted under the observation of
the authorities, that sufficient measures were not taken to ensure that
interviewees could speak freely and without fear of repercussions, and that
at least one survey was conducted not with the intention of conducting a
social/environmental impact assessment, but simply to answer some questions
submitted by a Member of Parliament. The results , however, have been
sited as if an environmental impact assessment had been conducted.
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Mekong Watch Japan
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