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A Message from Thai NGO
Asia desires a true Minamata settlement Citizens' power can foster a government and society that respects the environment and people's health Penchom Saetan Director of Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH) Japanese version of this article http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kagaku/pico/tsuushin/tsuushin_09/pico_133_Minamata_Thai.html
Article 67 of the Thai Constitution requires proponents of large-scale development projects to conduct environmental and health impact assessments as well as public hearings prior to construction of such projects. However, no health impact assessment or pubic hearing has been conducted with regard to these petrochemical factories. Thus, the joint committee's decision violates the Thai Constitution. After realizing the extent of local opposition to the project the government promised to set up a face-to-face dialogue between civil society representatives and the Prime Minister, and this has prompted local people to agree to stop protesting for the time being. Map Ta Put is the largest petrochemical industrial zone in Southeast Asia. The Japanese government has provided a huge amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for its establishment. Residents in the Map Ta Put area have strongly resisted the expansion plan, however, because many of them have been suffering from symptoms such as respiratory difficulties and leukemia due to the polluted environment. Whenever I think about the suffering of local residents in Map Ta Put, I cannot help but recall the Minamata Case. This human tragedy-caused by Chisso's greed and lack of awareness-has long interested me. In 2006 I finally had an opportunity to visit Minamata and conduct research on the victims and their supporters. I was moved by the difficulties these people had to endure and surprised that many problems remained unresolved even though 2006 was the 50th anniversary of the Japanese government's official recognition of the Mianamata Disease. When I went to Minamata I witnessed a protest in front of the Chisso Minamata factory that focused on several important issues, including Chisso's secret release of dioxins into Minamata Bay and its responsibility for victims who were only recently diagnosed with Minamata disease. I accompanied some of these victims to the Chisso headquarters in Tokyo for negotiations and noticed a large gap between the three Chisso representatives-who were indifferent to the problem-and the victims, who were quite angry. At that time, the victims were also on alert about Chisso's attempts to wash its hands of responsibility for the disaster. Three years have passed since then and I have recently learned that a Minamata Relief Law was passed by the Japanese Diet this past July. Under this law, Chisso will establish a subsidiary company responsible for business issues and the stock of this company will be sold in order to compensate the victims. Once the victims have been compensated the holding company, Chisso, will be liquidated. Chisso's responsibilities will then cease to exist. If that happens, the Chisso company will become part of history. However, the factories which caused the pollution will continue to exist. In addition, there are a number of important tasks that Japan has yet to carry out, such as re-examining the environmental certificate standards as well as compensating and assisting every victim. This means despite Japan's status as a civilized and developed country, Japan is responsible for tarnishing the international standard of "Polluters Pay the Price". Moreover, in spite of the bitter Minamata experience Japan is still the only mercury-exporting country in Asia, sending over 150 tons of mercury to developing countries annually. Japanese civil society groups that object to this have issued a joint statement demanding that the Japanese government enact a Mercury Export Ban Act that would mirror similar bans enacted by America and the EU. The statement, which I have also signed, proposes to manage surplus mercury inside Japan. The unresolved Minamata Case as well as continuing mercury exports to developing countries and pollution caused by Japanese ODA all demonstrate that Japan has been avoiding its responsibility. I sincerely hope that Japan changes course by giving higher priority to the environment and people's health on both the domestic and international level. In this regard, citizens' power can encourage the Japanese government to address these problems and even take the lead in these areas. In doing so, the government will benefit not only Asia but Japan as well. (Original in Thai translated by DOI, Toshiyuki, research fellow at Mahidol University, Thailand) Penchom Saetan Director of Ecological Alert and Recovery - Thailand (EARTH) and a 2005 Asian Public Intellectuals Fellow. EARTH's former body was established in 1998. EARTH's mission is to support local communities affected by industrial pollution. |
