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dam-l Reuters: Japan city gives thumbs down to pork-barrel dam



Not at all about Africa, but a most interesting story about a dam project!!!


>Japan city gives thumbs down to pork-barrel dam
>
>By Elaine Lies
>
>
>TOKYO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - A Japanese city has given a resounding no to a
>controversial dam scheme in a rare vote against a central
>government-backed public works project at a time of rising criticism of
>pork-barrel spending.
>
>More than 90 percent of voters in Tokushima, a city on Japan's smallest
>main island of Shikoku some 900 km (540 miles) southwest of Tokyo, on
>Sunday voted down the 100 billion yen ($954 million) project, the first
>referendum ever held on a public works scheme.
>
>The vote is not legally binding and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told
>reporters on Monday construction was likely to go ahead despite the
>results.
>
>``This project is very important for the entire region,'' Obuchi said.
>``I haven't heard anything about cancelling the project because of the
>poll results.''
>
>Observers hailed the vote as a significant step for Japan, which has
>traditionally welcomed such projects as a way of pumping life into
>lagging local economies.
>
>``This shows that people in Japan are not just saying 'yes, yes' to
>government projects anymore,'' said Tsunao Imamura, a professor at
>Tokyo's Chuo University. ``They are evaluating each one individually, and
>this time they said no.''
>
>He said the result was especially significant in light of an unusual
>ruling that mandated the vote would only be valid if more than 50 percent
>of eligible voters turned out.
>
>Close to 55 percent came to cast 102,759 votes against while 9,367 voted
>in favour.
>
>REJECTING TRADITIONAL PUMP-PRIMING
>
>Public works projects have been the backbone both of Japanese politics
>and economic policies, with lawmakers ladling out the pork to get votes
>and jump-start the economy when it falters.
>
>But these practices have come back to haunt the government, which after a
>decade of such spending faces a public debt that rose to 123 percent of
>gross domestic product this fiscal year -- the highest among
>industrialised nations -- and will swell to 130 percent in 2000/01.
>
>In the face of growing criticism from both opposition forces and rivals
>within his own party, Obuchi refuses to cut government spending, saying
>Japan's fragile economic recovery needs ``one more push'' before fiscal
>reform can be tackled.
>
>LOCALS RESENT BIG GOVERNMENT
>
>Under the scheme proposed by Japan's construction ministry, a movable
>weir-highway bridge would be built on the Yoshino river to replace an
>existing 250-year-old dam.
>
>The ministry says the project is essential for control of major floods,
>which it says may strike once every 150 years. Opponents say it would
>destroy the ecosystem around the dam.
>
>But what really angers Tokushima residents is a sense that the government
>has not consulted them even while it uses their tax money, city official
>Toshihiro Honda said.
>
>``The national government has ignored the people of the city in putting
>forth this plan. Considering they're spending so much money on this, why
>won't they hear our opinions?'' he added.
>
>RESULT IS MOSTLY SYMBOLIC
>
>The construction ministry said the vote will not affect its plans. ``We
>will make further efforts to explain to local residents the necessity of
>the project for their safety,'' it said in a statement.
>
>An official at the ministry's Flood Control division said it is still far
>too early to say whether the ministry might propose a compromise to
>mollify residents.
>
>Tokushima is also not the only municipality involved. Jurisdiction over
>the project also rests with one other city and eight towns, all of which
>are still in favour of the project.
>
>But observers said the fact that this is an election year could make
>officials more willing to lend an ear.
>
>``The government won't halt the project,'' said Chuo University's
>Imamura. ``But they are going to have to listen to what people say and
>take it more seriously than usual.''
>
>($1 - 105 yen)
>
>07:25 01-24-00
>
>Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited.  All rights reserved.


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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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