 JCP publishes statement on ruling on Isahaya Bay drainage Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on August 26 published a statement on a court injunction halting a land reclamation project which is now underway in Isahaya Bay in Saga Prefecture. The JCP statement calls on the government to immediately suspend the construction of an inner dike and to rehabilitate the Sea of Ariake. The text of the statement is as follows: Today the Saga District Court upheld the fishermen's request that the ongoing reclamation work be suspended. The provisional court order clearly recognizes the Isahaya Bay drainage as the cause of extraordinary deterioration of the marine environment and extensive damage to fishery in the Sea of Ariake. It stands to reason that the court orders the central government not to continue with the drainage and land reclamation project. This is a landmark ruling that condemns the government for its development policy squandering tax money for wasteful large public works projects even if they are known to be detrimental to the environment and fishery. The JCP welcomes the ruling and expresses its respect for those who have made the efforts that have achieved the court order. The court decision definitevely denied the government pretext to continue the reclamation work by obstinately denying relationships between drainage, the damage to the marine environment and fisheries. The government must not oppose the court decision. It must obey it and immediately stop the reclamation work, and allow sea water into the embankment so that the Sea of Ariake may be rehabilitated to its former state as soon as possible. Arguing at national and local government levels that land reclamation through drainage is no longer required and is even harmful, the JCP has called for the Isahaya drainage be suspended. The JCP will make effort to frustrate all maneuvers for continuing drainage, and will work further inside and outside the Diet to bring back a rich Ariake Sea. (end) |