Japan Press Weekly

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2017 December 6 - 12 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Indonesian group asks JCP for cooperation in efforts to oppose Japan-funded thermal power generation

Japanese Communist Party lawmakers on December 6 in the Diet building in Tokyo received a delegation of Indonesians opposing the Japan-funded coal-fired thermal power plant in West Java who were visiting Japan to increase public awareness of this matter.

In line with the Abe government policy to promote the export of Japan’s coal-fired power generation technology, major businesses such as Marubeni Corporation and the government-funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) financed the project to construct a coal-fired thermal power plant at a coastal area in Cirebon in West Java. Under the project which is being carried out by a local corporation, Unit No.1 began commercial operation in 2012 and Unit No.2 is under construction with loans from the JBIC.

This thermal power station project has been criticized in Indonesia for causing serious human rights violations and environmental destruction. In December 2016, a residents’ group in Cirebon opposing the project filed a lawsuit over the construction of the second unit. On April 19, 2017, the group won a court order to revoke the granted authorization for the construction. JBIC, however, decided to provide loans for the construction project the day before the court ruling.

In the meeting with JCP lawmakers, Cirebon residents’ group leader Riki Sonia said that the forces promoting the construction project are using various measures, including issuing death threats to opponents, to win over local residents to the project. He also criticized JBIC for making the decision in defiance local opposition. The JCP lawmakers in reply promised to take up the JBIC’s controversial decision in the Diet.

On the day before the meeting with the JCP, with support from a Japanese environmental NGO, the Cirebon residents’ group delegation held a press conference in Tokyo.

Riki Sonia pointed out that the construction of the Cirebon coal-fired power plant has brought significant damage to the environment and people’s livelihoods. Citing the suspicions regarding the authorization for the Unit No.2 construction, the residents’ group leader demanded that JBIC retract its decision.

Regarding the JBIC’s loan decision, JCP member of the House of Councilors Daimon Mikishi at a House committee meeting on April 13 urged the government-funded bank not to use public money for the Cirebon project.

Past related articles:
> JCP protests gov’t-funded bank decision to finance environmentally damaging project [ April 22, 2017]
> Abe promotes sale of coal-fired plants [ January 14, 2017]
> JCP urges gov’t-funded bank to not finance Indonesian project that is causing human rights violations [ March 25, 2016]