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NGOs continue opposition to the ADB over additional debt

Invited delegates and top officials might have left in a rush from the four-day Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Governors Meeting in Nusa Dua

Niken Prathivi (The Jakarta Post)
Denpasar
Thu, May 7, 2009

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NGOs continue opposition to the ADB over additional debt

I

nvited delegates and top officials might have left in a rush from the four-day Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Governors Meeting in Nusa Dua.

However, NGOs grouped under the Jubilee South and Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development continue to protest the bank's plan to triple its capital budget.

In a collective statement, Jubilee South expressed deep regret of the bank's commitment to raise its capital base to US$165 billion, which according to the umbrella NGO will "intensify the debt of Asian economies".

"What the region needs is not additional loans and facility support funds, but an unconditional cancellation of all ADB debt in order to solve the crisis," said Wilfredo Decosta, part of the NGO conglomeration, in a press conference in Kuta.

Charles Santiago, a Malaysian parliamentary member, said ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda's call to shift to a "new development paradigm" was "hypocritical".

"I believe no one, not even member countries understood what the ADB president meant by *new development paradigm'.

"What the ADB actually does is collect as much money as it can to enrich private investors," Santiago said.

Dani Setiawan from the Jakarta-based Anti-Debt Coalition (KAU) said he was not proud the annual meeting was held in Bali, due to its focus on debt.

"The ADB offers nothing new. In fact, the ADB has furthered poverty, ecological disruption and the exploitation of natural resources in Indonesia," he said.

Although the meeting had concluded, NGOs vowed to keep campaigning against the ADB.

"We had no opportunity to speak against the ADB meeting as security blockades surrounded Nusa Dua," Dani said.

"Therefore, we are using this moment to voice our opinion."

During the meeting in Nusa Dua from Saturday to Tuesday, no activists or NGOs were allowed on or around the heavily policed meeting site.

On Sunday, for example, dozens of people from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Indonesian Farmer's Union (SPI) were diverted to Denpasar on their way to Nusa Dua.

Instead, NGOs campaigned at Puputan Margarana Square in Renon, Denpasar, as well as conducted long marches to the US and Japanese consulates.

Elsewhere, other Asia Pacific-based NGOs held a two-day mock "people's tribunal", resulting in a guilty verdict for the ADB.

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