From 21st to 23rd March, three (3) local residents from Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia, visit relevant Japanese governmental agencies to demand that JICA must not finance Indramayu coal power plant expansion project, West Java, Indonesia. JICA is planning to consider its fund for the expansion project. The local villagers have expressed their strong opposition against the expansion of Indramayu power plant by sending petition letters directly to JICA five times since last year. In those letters, they have repeatedly conveyed their concerns about the impact on health as well as their livelihoods, such as fishing and farming. In addition, JICA’s technical assistance for developing “Land Acquisition and Ressetlement Action Plan (LARAP)” has been conducted in a way which increases the untrust among villagers, and as such it has led to division of community. Thus, local residents demand JICA not to provide its fund for this project anymore.
The local villagers will have meetings with Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JICA etc and will also submit the international petition, for which they are collecting the organizational signatures from CSOs in the world, to the relevant governmental agencies (see the attachment for the detailed schedule). In the press conference, they will explain the current situation, and the background why they decide to come over to Japan this time. The expansion project is located adjacent to the existing coal power plant (330 MW * 3 units) which were funded by China. The local residents have been faced with damages on health as well as livelihood, such as fishery and farming, due to the existing power plant. The villagers are worried about this expansion project even if it is called ‘quality infrastructure’. Thus, since last year, the local people have been repeatedly conducting protests in local area and Jakarta to show their opposition to the project. While JICA has been supporting the land acquisition process for the project at the local level, the voices of small tenants, daily-paid farmers, and small-scale fishermen have been not considered seriously. It was reported that people are forcibly and unjustly made to agree on the compensation scheme. Allegedly, the land-clearing work of the expansion project would be started this March. However, in order to prevent another damage on local residents due to Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA), it is urged for Japan to take immediate and sensitive response to the project. More information:
- Hozue HATAE, Friends of the Earth Japan
- Mobile: +81 90-8487-3161 E-mail: hatae@foejapan.org
