| ■ Government team to urge plaintiffs in Minamata disease | 06.06.05 |
| A government project team will again try to persuade non-certified victims of Minamata disease to drop their lawsuits and accept the state's offer of 2.6 million yen ($23,000) in compensation, officials said Thursday. The team wants to start the compensation payments as early as next fiscal year. Chisso Corp., the company that had discharged mercury into Minamata Bay in Kumamoto Prefecture, accepted its responsibility for the disease and has provided lump-sum compensation payments worth 16 million to 18 million yen for about 2,300 certified victims with serious symptoms since 1973. But noncertified victims, who had less severe symptoms, have been left out, and many filed compensation lawsuits against the government. In 1995, then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama wanted to bring closure to the Minamata problem, and offered 2.6 million yen each to noncertified victims of the disease, in addition to medical expenses and a medical allowance. But about 50 noncertified victims in the Kansai region refused Murayama's offer and continued with their lawsuits. Other noncertified victims later took legal action against the government. The project team will encourage the plaintiffs to accept a compensation package similar to the one offered by the Murayama government in 1995. But it is unclear if such an amount will be accepted. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled the central government and Kumamoto Prefecture were also responsible for Minamata disease, and ordered the governments to pay between 4.5 million and 8.5 million yen each to 37 noncertified victims. That ruling prompted other noncertified victims to sue the governments for compensation. Since the top court's ruling, Kumamoto Prefecture has urged the Environment Ministry to push for relief measures on par with the 1995 lump-sum compensation amount, according to officials. The project team, comprising members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, decided to discuss the compensation issue with noncertified victims after hearing the prefecture's arguments. Toshikatsu Matsuoka, chairman of the project team and a Lower House member of the LDP, said the team is willing to hold discussions not only with the plaintiffs, but also with certified victims and those who accepted the 1995 compensation package. Thousands became ill after consuming marine products contaminated with Chisso's discharged mercury waste in Minamata Bay in the 1950s. In 1968, the government first acknowledged that mercury poisoning was the cause of their ailments. About 12,000 people accepted the offer by the Murayama government and dropped their lawsuits.(IHT/Asahi: June 1,2006) |