Media Advisory
Floodgates open on failed Asian
Development Bank projects
Manila, Philippines, June 28, 2003 --
Thousands of protesters from the Philippines
and abroad are set to converge on the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) headquarters during
its symbolic annual meeting in Manila, on
Monday June 30.
"Experience shows that the privatization
agenda of the ADB is incompatible with its
stated mission of poverty alleviation. It is
high time the bank started listening to poor
people instead of filling the pockets of the
corporations from its rich donor countries,"
said in Manila Rod Harbinson, Friends of the
Earth International coordinator on the
ADB.
The growing catalogue of bungled ADB
projects throughout Asia and the Pacific has
attracted an international presence from
Friends of the Earth representatives from
Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Australia and
The Netherlands, and many organisations from
countries such as Nepal and Japan, to name
just a few.
Drowning in allegations of corruption and
mismanagement the ADB is being criticized for
a litany of failed projects relating to
water. Slammed by its own inspectors report
over the Samut Prakarn wastewater management
plant in Thailand last year, the bank now has
to deal with the prospect of its newly
revised inspection mechanism becoming clogged
with claims.
Samut Prakarn was recently halted by the
Thai Government which plans to press
corruption charges any day now. The ADB has
absolved itself of blame despite being deeply
engaged in the project planning and
implementation, and looks likely to demand
full repayment of its loan, much of which has
disappeared into the pockets of
contractors.
Nepali activist and lawyer Gopal Chintan
will reveal on June 30 the findings of recent
investigations into two ADB funded projects
in Nepal – the completed Kali Gandaki 'A' dam
and the proposed Melamchi water supply
project. His umbrella group, the Water and
Energy Users Federation-Nepal (WAFED), is
demanding a review of both projects. In
particular the Environmental and Social
Impact Assessments (ESIAs) are considered
grossly inadequate. Furthermore people
displaced or affected by the schemes are not
being offered adequate compensation for their
losses. Chintan says that if they don’t
receive positive assurances soon they will be
filing requests with the ADB inspection
mechanism.
Meanwhile on June 26 the Philippines
working group on the ADB, an umbrella of 10
groups including Friends of the Earth
Philippines, hosted a packed conference
criticizing the privatization policies of the
ADB which have had disastrous consequences
for water and energy services in the
Philippines.
Having loaned $550 million for
privatisation of the Philippines water sector
the ADB is having to face up to collapse of
the sector as private companies have hiked
rates four-fold, sometimes for services that
don’t even reach the tap. Far from increasing
the number of connections as promised, cash
strapped locals are crying out to the water
companies to be disconnected to avoid
sky-high charges for water that doesn't
arrive. International corporations Bechtel
and Suez Lyonnaise are blamed for hiking
rates at the demand of their ADB creditor.
Meanwhile the ADB has shown little interest
in their mission of ‘poverty alleviation’ and
in particular connecting the 350,000 Manila
residents still without water.
For more information please contact in
Manila, Philippines:
Rod Harbinson (Friends of the Earth
International)
Phone: +63 (0) 9129 11160, Email:
rod@foei.org
ADB
Background information
|
