Japan Gov't to subsidize Chisso payouts to Minamata victims

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

GoJ will pay about $1 billion to victims of environmental pollution!

John



         http://www.mainichi.co.jp/english/news/news04.html
                                           Thursday, June 10, 1999

         Gov't to subsidize Chisso payouts to
         Minamata victims


         The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday approved

         a plan to use public funds to assist debt-ridden Chisso Corp.
to pay
         compensation to victims suffering from Minamata disease.

         The government will provide state subsidies and taxes allocated
to
         local governments to Chisso to help the chemical manufacturer
repay
         its debts to Kumamoto Prefecture. The prefecture has been
providing
         loans to Chisso in the form of prefectural bonds since 1978.

         The plan, mapped out by the Environment Agency and other
related
         ministries and agencies, seeks to make sure redress payments to

         victims of the disease are continued by the company.

         The government was expected to approve the plan at a meeting of

         Cabinet ministers later Wednesday evening.

         Hundreds of people died and thousands were disabled or born
with
         disabilities in the 1950s and 1960s after eating seafood
contaminated
         with mercury compounds dumped by Chisso into Minamata Bay,
         Kumamoto Prefecture.

         Chisso will be allowed to repay the state without interest and
no
         repayment time limit. The state is expected to shoulder nearly
100
         billion yen over 20 years.

         The amount of Chisso's bond repayments to the prefecture is
         expected to amount to some 7 billion yen for fiscal 2000,
starting
         April next year.

         Chisso plans to pay about 2 billion yen of that amount after
deducting
         compensation payments to victims from its approximately 5
billion yen
         in ordinary income. The state's injection of funds is meant to
cover the
         remaining 5 billion yen.

         Meanwhile, the state will request cooperation from Kumamoto
         Prefecture, the Minamata Municipal Government and financial
         institutions including the Industrial Bank of Japan.

         The plan also incorporates private financial institutions'
abandonment
         of a total of about 75 billion yen in loans and interest.

         The plan also urges Chisso to carry out a thorough
restructuring of
         management and a capital reduction.

         According to the plan, if such cooperation is gained from the
private
         sector, the government is ready to exempt Chisso from repaying
some
         27 billion yen the state provided the firm through the
prefecture in
         1995 to redress disease victims.

         Chisso's accumulated public debt totaled 140 billion yen in
principal
         alone at the end of March this year.


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