FUZZY ANSWERS DAY

SORTING OUT KURODA
By Red Constantino

Yesterday the articulate president of the ADB, Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, met with representatives of civil society organizations who grilled him about the serious problems that the ADB has been creating among the working people and poor communities of Asia. Mr. Kuroda answered the questions thrown his way with great clarity. Here are some of Mr. Kuroda's gems:

Activist from Bangladesh: "Mr Kuroda, an ADB official recently said that the ADB was definitley withdrawing from the Phulbari coal project. But another said they were not. This question is answerable by yes or no actually -- will the ADB finance the Phulbari project?

Kuroda: "Aboslutely not! No, no, no. Sort of…"

IFI activist: "Can you give us a full list of all the offshore private equity funds that the ADB has invested in and can you explain the relevance of the Bank's involvement in private equity funds in relation to poverty alleviation efforts?"

Kuroda: "Of course. Sort of… Next question?"

Activist from the Philippines: "Mr. Kuroda, can you explain to us why agriculture has been from the ADB's Long-Term Strategy Framework in the midst of the global food crisis"

Kuroda: "That is not true. We did not drop agriculture from the LTSF. There is actually one really tiny paragraph there on agriculture. Sort of…"

Activist from Central Asia: "Mr. Kuroda, please tell us why are you supporting child labor in cotton production industries in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan?"

Kuroda: "Well! No, we are not involved in cotton industries in Central Asia. Therefore how can we be even involved in child labor there?!"

Central Asia activist responds: "But how do you explain Project Number 38603-01 dated August 2006, subtitled "ADB Sustainable Cotton Subsector Project page 2 of which talks about child labor!?"

Kuroda: "Oh, that one. Ya. Well, we are not really concretly involved. We're just sort of involved? Sort of."

Activist from Australia: "Mr Kuroda, you said last year that the ADB's Safeguards Policy will not be weakened. You assured everyone exactly a year ago that you would even strengthen it. But a month after you spoke your staff immediately weakened the bank's safeguard policy! Why should we believe whatever you'll say to us now?"

Kuroda: "Because I value my integrity and because the ADB's credibility is important. Sort of. Like, a little bit. A little bit sort of actually. Unambigious. Like seriously. Sort of."