 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 15, 2010 Japan's prime minister said Wednesday he would not appeal a court ruling that ordered the gates of a sea dyke to be opened in a rare judicial defeat for the government after a campaign by local fishermen. The ruling was upheld Monday in the Fukuoka High Court, in the latest stage of a long-running battle over a project that authorities said was a defence against flooding but opponents criticised as environmentally damaging. "I made the final decision not to appeal," Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters of his decision, which is expected to lead to an opening of the gates in the fiscal year 2012. "I myself visited the site many times and have my own opinion on this issue." Japanese governments have for decades invested heavily in public works projects, concreting hillsides, riverbanks and coastlines, in projects that have often been criticised as environmentally harmful pork-barrel exercises. Kan's Democratic Party government, which took power over a year ago, has decried the public works habit, pledging instead to put "people before concrete". Japan's central government first planned the seven-kilometre (4.3-mile) dyke at Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture in the 1950s to reclaim a coastal wetland for rice cultivation, and later argued it served as a barrier against floods. But local fishermen who trawl the bay demanded the gates be opened, saying the wetland provided important nutrients for marine life. The dyke had caused algal blooms or "red tides" and damaged the fishing environment, they said, while campaigners argued the wetland should not be enclosed because it is a key habitat for migratory birds. However local farmers wanted the gates kept shut because they had cultivated the reclaimed land. Over the years fishermen staged sit-ins to try to prevent the dyke's construction, and in a 2008 district court ruling the government was ordered to keep open two of the dyke's drainage gates for five years.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
Long-Range Undersea Robot Goes The DistanceMoss Landing CA (SPX) Nov 08, 2010 Over the past decade, the undersea robots known as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have become increasingly important in oceanographic research. Today's AUVs fall into two groups: 1) propeller-driven vehicles that can travel fast and carry lots of instruments, but are limited to expeditions of only a few days; and 2) "gliders," which can stay at sea for weeks or even months at a time, but ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
