The government plans to ask a local panel to approve the withdrawal of fishing rights in a river in Kumamoto Prefecture to prepare for a dam project that was first ordered 35 years ago, government sources said Saturday.
The Kyushu regional bureau of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry plans to announce early this week its decision to ask the Kumamoto prefectural expropriation commission to give its approval in order to proceed with the stalled project.
The decision follows the Nov. 29 rejection by local fishermen of the government's compensation offer -- 1.65 billion yen in redress and 35 support schemes, including development of new fishing areas after construction of the planned Kawabe River dam.
It would be the first time the state has applied for the withdrawal of fishing rights over a dam project.
Kumamoto Gov. Yoshiko Shiotani told Kyodo News, "We have not heard anything from the state. I believe the state will not make such a decision at a time when we plan to hold a residents' meeting to discuss the dam project on Sunday."
She has said the prefectural government will honor the outcome of the fishermen's vote.
The Kuma River Fishermen's Cooperative voted down the proposal during a meeting in Hitoyoshi in the prefecture.
In July 1966, the government announced a plan to dam the Kawabe River, which flows into the Kuma River.
The dam, which would be one of the largest in Kyushu and would create a reservoir with a capacity of 133 million cu. meters of water, was conceived for irrigation.
The residents of the villages of Itsuki and Sagara, which will be submerged if the dam is built, approved the project in 1996, but construction was postponed because the government was unable to agree on compensation with the fishermen.