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Kubota apologizes for asbestos
President announces aid package for nearby residents

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) - Dec. 26, 2005 - The president of major machinery manufacturer Kubota Corp. apologized Sunday to people suffering from asbestos-linked diseases who live near one of the firm's asbestos factories.

Kubota Corp.'s now-defunct Kanzaki factory in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, lies adjacent to a residential area.

While Kubota President Daisuke Hatakake, meeting with the residents, did not clearly acknowledge the causal relationship between its factory and their illnesses, he said he feels a moral responsibility for their plight, according to the residents.

They added that Hatakake promised to set up a new compensation regime for residents similar to that for Kubota employees by April after listening to their views on the matter. The roughly one-hour meeting -- the first between Hatakake and residents and family members of those who have since died -- was closed to the media.

The apology and pledge for a new compensation framework may affect other companies which have used asbestos, observers said.

The residents lived near Kubota's Kanzaki factory, which was in operation between 1954 and 1997. It manufactured such products as sewer pipes that contained asbestos.

Records show it used some 9 tons of blue asbestos, believed to be the most toxic form of the substance, between 1957 and 1975.

Of the 251 employees involved in producing the pipes for more than a decade, roughly half have been diagnosed with asbestos-linked diseases such as mesothelioma, and 61 have died.

At Sunday's meeting, Hatakake was quoted as saying it "cannot be denied" that asbestos fibers might have escaped from the factory premises. However, he said the causal relationship between that and mesothelioma has not been fully confirmed.

He bowed in apology anyway, saying: "We did not fully recognize the risks. I feel moral responsibility as an operator (of such a facility)," according to the residents.

Speaking at a news conference later in the day, Hatakake acknowledged that it was unprecedented to take such actions without recognizing a causal relationship.

"We have to do something about the reality that is right in front of our eyes," he said, adding that the company could not spend more time on the compensation issue given the situation facing patients and their families.

The company currently has a system under which people living near the factory who are mesothelioma patients and bereaved families can receive 2 million yen in sympathy money and condolence money. As of Thursday, 70 people had applied for the money and payments have been made to 46 of them, according to the firm.

Kubota revealed in late June that scores of former workers at the plant fell ill. It was later discovered that residents living near the factory were suffering an abnormally high rate of asbestos-related maladies.

This also triggered a series of announcements from firms and municipalities nationwide of disease sufferers and previously unconfirmed asbestos use.

The government is planning to submit to the ordinary Diet session that begins next month a bill to help victims of asbestos-related diseases.

If enacted, the families of employees and residents currently receiving medical treatment will be given roughly 100,000 yen per month in addition to the portion of the medical costs they shoulder. Families of victims who have already died will be given a lump sum of 3 million yen. For families unable to apply for workers' compensation due to the statute of limitations, the government will pay pensions of 2.4 million yen a year.