Bangkok Post
November 10, 2002

A conference of labour activists from ASEAN countries yesterday agreed to push for disclosure of details of loans obtained from international financial institutions.

The participants also said with one voice that most of the development schemes funded by those loans failed to benefit the general public.

The participating activists were from countries seeking loans from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. They included Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The participants said the public was always kept in the dark about the obligations of the loans sought from these institutions.

The conference also agreed to work on a framework to oppose further privatisation of state enterprises. This was often a condition attached to any loans made by the institutions.

The participants stressed a need for labour unions to have a say in formulating policies on the privatisation of state enterprises.

Somboon Sapsan, secretary-general of the State Enterprise Relations Confederation, vowed to continue his fight against more privatisation of state enterprise agencies.

The conference also noted that several of the programmes funded by those loans were laced with corruption and controversy.

Cited as an example was Thailand’s waste water treatment scheme in Samut Prakan’s Klong Dan worth US$750 million.

The scheme, funded by ADB loans, adversely affected shellfish farming in the area.