A consulting company that had submitted a report to a government panel stating that no new power plant was needed on Kunashiri Island rewrote the report and claimed the facility was of "great significance" following a visit by controversial lawmaker Muneo Suzuki to the island, sources close to the case said Saturday.
The consulting firm, Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International, submitted the first report in November 1998. Suzuki then visited the island to observe power generating facilities.
Five months later, in December 1999, the Foreign Ministry, which funds the activities of the panel, known as the Cooperation Committee, authorized the construction of the plant and ordered PCI to conduct the research again, the sources said.