Eighteen civil society organisations in South Korea gathered in front of Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) headquarters on 19 February, demanding that the company take responsibility for the violence against villagers in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, east India. Orissa’s authorities, who have an agreement with the company, have evicted the villagers by force.
(Bangkok) Eighteen civil society organisations in South Korea gathered in front of Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) headquarters on 19 February, demanding that the company take responsibility for the violence against villagers in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, east India. Orissa’s authorities, who have an agreement with the company, are forcing the villagers to evict.

The forced eviction will affect about 22,000 people in three villages. The Orissa government who had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with POSCO in 2005, allows the company to expand its production base by building steel mill in the region and invest in supply of resources, such as iron ore. The company, which is the biggest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India, will start building a new plant in the region on 1 April.

It is learnt that the villagers who resisted the government were attacked by paramilitary troops. The civil society representatives also noted in their statement that the authorities of Orissa are behind POSCO to carry out eviction.

These organisations include People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), both FORUM-ASIA members in South Korea.

Despite the government’s assurance that it would meet people’s demands by compensations, the farmers, who made their living by betel, cashew and other crops, say that they will lose their daily earnings and traditional life style.

They also claimed the new development would be a threat to their access to water. The steel plant will extract 286 million liters of water per day, meaning a great loss for the locals. Both factors also will bring environmental effects of the region.