44 organizations from 18 countries have sent a demand letter to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urging Japan to stop funding of the Matarbari coal-fired power plant phase 2 project in Bangladesh.
The letter was also sent to Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi, and President Kitaoka of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, NGO Forum on ADB, Oil Change International, The Sunrise Project, and JACSES Japan were among the international NGOs who signed the letter. Development Synergy Institute (DSI) and Life and Nature Safeguard Platform were the signatories from Bangladesh.
In the letter, 5 reasons were pointed out as to why the project should be defunded.
Bangladesh is already burdened with power overcapacity, and additional capacity will increase the financial loss, the letter reads.
Bangladesh already needs around $8.0 billion for the post Covid-19 economy, and the cyclone Amphan recovery. Moreover, the country has already sought US$ 4.50 billion loans from foreign donors, among which $1 billion from JICA, to cover the budget deficit for the next fiscal year 2020-21.
The letter urged JICA, the financier of the Matarbari project, to investigate complaints in land acquisition and compensation process in the project.
The first two turbines of the Matarbari plant (phase 1) are built on land for shrimp farming, crop and salt production, which has limited the livelihoods of Matarbari residents and those displaced by the project were not given prior notice as required by the Land Acquisition Act 1982, have not been met with fair compensation, livelihood restoration and resettlement, the letter pointed out.
The letter also raised concern over worker’s right violation in the project as 3,000 laborers were forced to continue work during Covid-19 lockdown risking their health regardless of the nationwide shutdown.
In April 2020, the laborers went on strike demanding their entitlement of the right to safe health, the letter mentioned.
The NGOs warned in the letter that pollution from Matarbari plant would cause significant health damage and premature deaths in Bangladesh. Pollution from Matarbari power plant (Phase-1) is estimated to cause up to 14,000 premature deaths during its operational years.
The letter also said that building new coal-fired power plants is not consistent with the goal of Paris Agreement and JICA’s involvement in the Matarbari coal-fired plants is contradictory with its’ Climate Change Cooperation Strategy.
