"Citizens For A Better Environment" is a group of citizens
living in
Minamikawachi town (Kawachi-gun) and Kokubunji town in Tochigi
prefecture
in Japan.
At the beginning of 1998, a plan to construct an industrial waste
disposal
plant in the industrial estate of Kokubunji town, a town
adjoining
Minamikawachi town, emerged.
As opposition against the proposal, our group was established.
Support for
our movement was strong not only locally but widely, as testified by
a
voluminous petition and several study meetings attended by zealous
people.
Eventually the construction plan was prevented at the end of 1998
by the
decision of Kokubunji town council to purchase the site where the
plant was
to be constructed.
We are greatly indebted to the mayor and the council of Kokubunji
town, who
made such a momentous decision to protect our district. We also thank
all
the people who have supported us along the way.
However, this problem was not yet resolved completely. This waste
disposal
company filed a lawsuit against Kokubunji town concerning the
purchasing of
this land. We, members of "Citizens For A Better Environment",
supported
the local government, offering them various documents and attending
trial
sessions. On 25th of October, 1999 the decision was made at
Utsunomiya
District Court and the suit rejected, as there was no illegality in
purchasing
the land. The plaintiff appealed against this decision, but Tokyo
High Court
dismissed this appeal on the 14th of March, 2000.
The purpose of our group is not only to oppose the construction of
industrial
waste disposal plants. "Citizens For A Better Environment" will
continue to
be critical and to preserve our local environment.
We will try to be prudent to rid society of those who seek to
impose
impossible loads upon the environment, a society, allegedly
sophisticated, but
yet...based on mass-production, mass-consumption and mass-waste.
We want to think about what our society ought to be as a
resource-recycling
type and how to realize it, and how we can reduce waste by holding
industry
responsible.
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