NEWS
Kitakyushu
International
Techno-cooperative
Association

No.4
2007
April

Contents
1 KITA project is rewarded in Surabaya City, Indonesia
2 Message from Vice President of KITA
3 Rewarding activities for overseas development
Indonesia, Ghana
4 Close-up of four KITA training course
6 The latest news from the former participants
Philippine, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand,
Egypt, Turkey, Colombia, Chile,
9 The delightful response to KITA from abroad
Kuwait, Russia
10 The topics of KITA training course
China, Egypt, Nepal
11 International friendship
12 Other news and information

KITA’s waste reducing project was appreciated by Surabaya City, Indonesia
Mr. Bambang DH.(left), Mayor of Surabaya handed a memorial token, showing their appreciation to Mr. Satoshi Nakazono(right), Deputy Executive Director of KITA/ECC at the presentation ceremony in Surabaya City, the Republic of Indonesia.

A Message from the Vice President of KITA

Become a Learning Organization
through Continuous Improvement

The Kitakyushu International Techno-cooperative
Association (KITA) is a non-profit organization that wasestablished in 1980 to take part in international
cooperation promoted by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA).
North area of Kyushu, where KITA carries out its
activities, is an area in which the prominent modern
industries of Japan, including steel, chemical,
automotive and electric power industries arecongregated and the development and accumulation ofvariousindustrial
technologies
have
been
implemented. We also have invaluable experience inovercoming industrial pollution in this region andrecovering the beautiful sea and sky throughcooperation between industry, academia, government
offices, and citizens. Furthermore, the city of
Kitakyushu has been a strong promoter of theKitakyushu Eco-Town Project aiming to create arecycling-based society.
KITA has been putting to full use the most advanced
technologies, knowledge and experience accumulated
in this region, presenting over 30 types of diverse
training courses annually, including manufacturing
technology, plant maintenance, environmental
conservation, recycling-based society promotion andvocational training, as well as dispatching technicalconsultants and transferring excellent Japanesetechnologies and management methods upon requestfrom various countries.
As a result, 4,302 people from 120 different
countries have received training at KITA by the time ofDecember 2006 and are successfully achieving brilliant
work after returning to their home countries.
The training project at KITA, utilizing our knowledge
and experience to the fullest, aims to develop human

02 KITA NEWS No.4

resources in order to solve issues faced byparticipating organizations. The training starts with apresentation of a job report into which issues faced byeach participant are incorporated and ends with apresentation of an action plan developed based on the
instruction and knowledge acquired throughout thetraining and discussions. During this training period theparticipants learn various problem-solving methods
and small group activities which are a particular forte ofJapan, and acquire the basic skills needed to reformthe organizations that the participants represent into
learning organizations through relentless reflection(Hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen).
Keeping in mind the motto of JICA, "For a better
tomorrow for all," and always determined to further
encourage international cooperation actively in the
future, we are eagerly awaiting the next generation ofenthusiastic and willing participants.

Kenzo Matsumoto
Vice President

Mr. Matsumoto（left）at a surprised party for the participants of“computerized machine control” course leader : Mr. Taniguchi（right）

News&Report

Rewarding activities for overseas development
KITA Recognized by the Mayor of
Surabaya City

A Site Survey Report on Local Industry
Vitalization in Ghana

A waste reducing project in Surabaya City, Indonesia,
which was started in June 2004, has now been bearing
fruits of our three-years efforts. Four composting centers,
which were built for treating garbage generated at big
markets, while Takakura Home Method, a composting
method for each household, has prevailed among 7,000
households in Surabaya by the end of 2006. A JBICsponsored seminar to report the outcomes of this project
was held in December 2006, to which many people fromall over the country were attracted. In the project, Native
Microorganisms (NM), extracted from local fermented
foods, are used for any types of composting, which is very
important for its sustainability.
The project resulted in reduction of approximately
10,000 tons of waste, which contributes to extend the lifeof disposal sites in Surabaya City. On 20th December
2006, the Mayor of Surabaya City, Mr. Bambang, gave amemorial testimonial to KITA to express their appreciation
for the result of this project. Now KITA’s waste reducing
project, known as KITA Method, will be widely spread andimplemented in many cities in Indonesia and other Asian
countries.
(FY 2004 to 2006, funded by Japan Fund for Global
Environment)This trip to Ghana was realized upon a request to the
JICA Ghana office from the Government of Ghana. During
a 10-day stay from September 21, we held workshops
and implemented a site survey on local industry
vitalization.
Our purpose was to spread a breakthrough thinking
process for creative thought, which is one of the mostpopular concepts among the participants in our training
course, and to introduce policies and cases carried out inJapan.
Our workshops were held in Accra (the capital) andKumasi (the second largest local city), and a total of 90
people participated. Vice Minister of the Ministry of Tradeand Industry also participated in the workshop held in
Accra. In this workshop, 10 out of 30 participants wereformer participants in our programs in Japan. We were
truly delighted at our reunion and listened to theirexperiences and activities afterwards. In Kumasi, theworkshop was a great success, gathering 60 participants,
aspect of which was even broadcast on TV.
For our site survey, we visited three companies withtrial operation of the pilot project: a palm oil factory inKumasi and two small-scale textile mills in Accra. The
palm oil factory was trying to manufacture soaps fordomestic market with newly introduced equipment.
On the last day in Ghana, we were invited by the
Minister of Trade and Industry and we received words ofgratitude for our visit to Ghana.

Tetsuya Ishida
KITA Environmental Cooperation Center

Yoshio Miki
Course Leader

residents listening to composting method in Surabaya

Participants and Mr. Miki (second from left, first row)

KITA NEWS No.4 03

Close-up of four KITA training course
Ⅰ The JICA Course "Industrial Wastewater Treatment Technique II"
In 2006, 8 participants from 7 different nations
participated in the course. After the finish of 117-day
program, all of the participants left Japan on November 25
in high spirits.
This course purposes to help the participants acquire
knowledge of policies and technologies, which havesuccessfully improved the water quality of Dokai bay,
implemented by the City of Kitakyushu that are usable forthe conditions of their native countries.
The contents of the course are as follows: ① History of
Water Pollution and Environmental Administration, ②
Basic Theories of Wastewater Treatment, ③ Basic
Planning and Designing of Treatment Facilities and ④
Operation and Maintenance of Treatment Facilities.
During 4 months course, visual aids and other
instructional materials as well as practical exercises wereapplied. In addition, an exercise regarding the planning of
a wastewater treatment facility was implemented by thedivided three groups. The plans of each group was
designed by using CAD and were presented by eachgroup, for the review by the course lecturers. This actual
training was highly praised by the participants.
I feel that the participants will be able to acquire theskills necessary to cope with modifying and newly
designing facility of their companies for development of

their countries after returning home. Furthermore, throughthe experience of taking the course with people fromvarious countries with different cultures, they are playing asignificant role in furthering international friendship andcooperation. I would like to thank many related persons
for their active cooperation, and feel inspired to further
extend our achievements in the future.
Course Leader Toshikazu Arakawa

model test using water treatment apparatus

Ⅱ "Administration for Food and Health" Course is newly open
This training course was carried out from Dec,11 to Jan,26, 2007 at KITA receiving 10 participants from 9 different
countries (Africa, Asia, South America), which have varied
economic situation and cultural backgrounds. The course
had a well-balanced group of 6 male and 4 female
members, and was completed successfully in aharmonious atmosphere from beginning to end.
The curriculum of this course includes basic knowledgeof food and health, food hygiene from production to
consumption, and knowledge and skill required for foodhygiene inspection instruction.
This particular course was based on a course which
had been carried out by JICA Sapporo (commissioned by
Sapporo city) for past 10 years. JICA Sapporo offered
their full support in providing their experience and knowhow in executing this course. Officers from the publichealth center also devoted their time to help us in many
ways, including developing the course contents, and thelecturers made every possible effort even though fact that
this course was being offered for the first time. We arereally grateful to them for helping us to complete the04 KITA NEWS No.4

course successfully.
We will review the implementation results of this course,
and we hope that we can offer more fruitful contents tosatisfy participants next year.
Course Leader Hisomu Terasaki

hygienic management at food factoryⅢ Fukuoka International Environmental Management Program
Asian Sustainable Society Development Course
Fukuoka Prefecture established a training course in2006 in order to make contributions toward environmental
improvement and establishing a recycling-based society,targeting central administrative officers who areresponsible for it in their own country and aiming toreinforce cooperation with Asian nations in this field.
Along with their rapid economic growth, Asian regions
face various serious environmental issues. On the other
hand, the resource recycling trend has started to stream
down to China and other Asian regions from Japan.
This training course was implemented with 7
participants for the "China course" in November and 8
participants for the "ASEAN/India course" in January.
Each course, with a carefully considered curriculum taking
into account the conditions of each target country, lasted
4 weeks.
In the China course, the most important issue facing
each country was collection and reservation of resources.
The participants showed strong interest in Eco-Town
where various recycling related enterprises areconcentrated.
In the ASEAN/India course, waste treatment was the
major issue due to restricted conditions of disposal sites.
The participants were greatly interested in waste

classification, landfill and composting technologies.
The participants were eager for applying what theylearned in the course in a suitable way for their own
countries.
Course Leader Sumio Tajima
KITA Training Division

separated collection system at Minamata-city

Ⅳ Development of A Sound Material-Cycle Society for China(JICA Country-focused training course)
In the last few years, the economy of China has been
dramatically developing as the factory of the world.
However, in reality, it is well known that the economic
differential between the inland regions and the developed
coastal region of China has been further magnified andthe depletion of resources and environmental pollution are
becoming major issues for the country.
This course was remodeled for targeting administrative
officers and researchers who are involved in theenvironmental issues, waste-treatment measures, andpromotion of a sound material-cycle economy in thecentral and regional areas, as well as the urban areas in
China. This course was divided into 2 terms for its
implementation.
In the spirit of friendship between Japan and China asneighboring countries, this course encouraged
participants to consider and discuss a recycling-basedsociety to solve the environmental problem in common.
Course Leader Tsutomu Sashiwa

discussion on recycling of based society with representatives of
local community

KITA NEWS No.4 05

News&Report

The latest news from the former participants
As she explained in her action plan, she has been
carrying out not only 5S activity but seminar on ecology incollaboration with 2nd batch alumni.
We are glad to know that the former participants are
eagerly promoting Cleaner Production.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Philippines
Ms. Domingo Geronima Tersol
Noah’s Paper Mill, Inc.
Promotion of Cleaner Production for Philippines (FY 2003)
Technical Service Manager

Ms. Wijesekera, after returning to her home country,
participated in the construction of a wastewater treatment
facility for a soap manufacturing plant, which has been an
issue for the plant for a long time. She took charge ofdesigning this plant by using the skills acquired in the
training course. The plant is an active sludge treatment
facility with a 30K/day capacity and is yielding goodresults by achieving 1/2 of the domestic standard fordischarged water.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Sri Lanka
Ms. Lalani Wijesekera
Industrial Technology Institute
Industrial Wastewater Treatment Techniques（FY
2002）
Research of Wastewater Treatment and Design ofFacility

After coming back to his country from Japan, he
proposed that the gaskets of ammonia converter (135kg/
F,500℃) which was imported from Japan should be
replaced by themselves, based on his confidence throughthe training. He challenged the task and successfully
achieved.
The facility is now operating smoothly.
After he was promoted to another division in 2005, hehas been contributing toward the higher productivity of theplants by applying TPM.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Bangladesh
Mr. Mohammad Sheikh Abdullah
Polash Urea Fertilizer Factory Ltd.
Plant Maintenance Engineering (FY 1998)
Deputy Chief Engineer engaged in TPM
AMMONIA CONVERTER

06 KITA NEWS No.4

News&Report

Ms. Jawang proposed and persuaded the concerned
person to take advantages of utilizing non-destructive
inspection. As a consequence, improvement of work quality
by applying this technology was accepted. The largest
issue for her was quality deterioration in reinforced
concrete buildings. It was decided that 5 types ofequipment should be purchased, and 4 months later they
were in use. She will be making efforts to prepare enoughnumber of equipments, and domestic testing standards
from now.
Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Thailand
Ms. Apinya Jawang
Structural Engineering and System Bureau, Department of Public Works
and Town & Country Planning, Ministry of Interior
Non-destructive Inspection Techniques for Quality Management & Plant
Asset Management（FY 2005）
Professional Engineer

Mr. Mohammed, after returning to his home country,
made his best efforts to introduce and apply CBM(Condition Based Maintenance) utilizing CDT (Condition
Diagnosis Techniques), which he learned in the"Maintenance Management" course, to the facilities he tookcharge of. In addition, he introduced the "5S" for sitemanagement and revitalized the workplace.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Egypt
Mr. Moustafa Adel Fathi Mohammed
Zafarana Wind Farm, New & Renewable Energy Authority（NREA）
Plant Maintenance Management for Cleaner Production（FY 2005）
Senior Engineer of Maintenance Department, Maintenance of wind power
generator, Management of parts

Mr. Akkaya, after returning to his home country,
persuaded the related person of the necessity to apply
non-destructive inspection technology in the company’s
activities. As a result, the company purchased an ultrasonictest device for the quality control of steam boilers andpressure vessels manufacturing. In addition, he has
acquired Level II certificates for radiographic test andultrasonic test.
Photo (left) shows (UT-II) certificate he has acquired andright shows Mr. Akkaya introducing those technology.
Country
Name
Place of work

Training Course
Assignment

TurkeyMr. Ahmet Cevat Akkaya
Production & Project Dept., Akkya Heating
Instruments and Natural Gas Trade andManufacturing Corporation
Non-destructive Inspection Techniques for Quality
Management & Plant Asset Management（FY 2004）
Production and Project Manager

KITA NEWS No.4 07

Mr. Guler, after returning to his home country, has been
carrying out activities to spread knowledge of the latest
automatic control technology at the technical high school
where he works. He made several text books on automatic
control devices and 25 types of sample programs forcontrol devices last year. Additionally, he has also prepared
20 types of teaching materials. Clearly, he has contributed
toward the improvement of technical education in Turkey
based on what he learned in Japan.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

TurkeyMr. Telat Guler
Industrial Technology Dept.,
Mazhal Zorlu Anatolia Technical High School
Computerized Machine Control (FY 2004)
Teacher in the Industrial Technology Department

Mr. Nova organized a team of workers called "Nozomi"
after returning to his home country. The team has detected
time losses utilizing the "Seven Losses" point of view andsucceeded in reducing more than 25% in the cycle time forthe rear axle assembly line. The team also for the first time
participated in the annual competition for parts suppliersponsored by the automobile company and won thesecond prize out of 37 participating companies.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Columbia
Mr. Jose Luis Vanegas Nova
Dana Colombia S.A.
Practical Production Management（FY 2003）
Assembly Engineer & Coordinator of Dana Assembly Plant

Mr. Jara is currently responsible for planning ofmaintenance and inspection of newly installed facilities.
This responsibility involves two types of activities. One is toimplement diagnosis on the cause of a failure by the
information acquired from the monitoring system anddeveloping countermeasures; he has been achieving
excellent results. The other is to develop maintenanceplans including decision making for inspection method,
determination of important devices and parts, and a review
of operation conditions.

Country
Name
Place of work
Training Course
Assignment

Chile
Mr. Horge Ivan Santander Jara
Enap Refineries S. A
Plant Maintenance Engineering for Cleaner Production (FY 2004)
Planning of maintenance and inspection of new installations

08 KITA NEWS No.4

News&Report

The delightful response to KITA from abroad
Gaining an Appreciation for Natural
Beauty in Kyushu
High-tech. Efficient. Organized. Industrious. These
are the words that my students used to describe Japan
before we left Kuwait for the Summer 2006 Program. I
accompanied eight Kuwaiti students from the College ofEngineering & Petroleum (Kuwait University) who spent
the last 10 days of this 2-month long program in
Kitakyushu. The main focus of the program at KITA was"Industrial Technology and Environmental Conservation."
In addition to the informative lectures and the valuable
factory visits, the students had the opportunity toexperience first-hand the beautiful natural environment of
Kyushu area. We traveled by road to Nagasaki andKumamoto. Along the way we saw the inspiration for
Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in the Glover Garden; wesilently wandered into the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb
Museum and Peace Park; we rode the cable car up to theInasa-yama Lookout at sunset; we stood by the buriedhouses in Unzen-Amakusa National Park and witnessed
the outcome of nature’s forces resulting from the crater’s
eruption; we breathed in the fresh air during our ferry
crossing to Kumamoto; we learned to appreciate Japan’srich history by touring Kumamoto Castle; we ran throughthe prairies of Aso National Park; we dipped our feet in
the cool Shirakawa Fountainhead.
All of these experiences with nature helped us gain an
appreciation for the need to preserve Japan’senvironment and the importance of global environmental
conservation. Now when you ask the students about
Japan it is more likely that they will use these words todescribe it: Beautiful nature. Environmental harmony.
Rich history. Friendly people. Unforgettable.
By: Dr. Souhaila Almutawa,
Professor of Kuwait University
After they returned home, they were invited toJapanese Embassy in Kuwait to have familiar talk withAmbassador and Japanese students in Kuwait overdinner, I heard later.
By: N. Tanaka, Course Leader

Volcano Museum at Mt. Aso

An Inspection Team from Chelyabinsk,
Russia Visits Japan for Development of
a Recycling-Based Society
There are huge amount of steel slag piles in the areas
surrounding Chelyabinsk City. These slags containmetallic iron and are considered to be a possible sourceof significant value; therefore, discussion on business
utilizing steel slags was initiated. Nippon Magnetic
Dressing Co., Ltd. （NMD） was selected as theparticipating company for this business, and as a result ofextended discussion an inspection team consisting of 6
members including administrative officers visited Japanfor 4 days in October. The members observed 7 locations
including slag processing factories and Eco-Town andthen held a discussion.
Based on the inspection results, the President of
Gipromez visited Japan again in December andconcluded an agreement for a business partnership with
NMD. Business cooperation between Russia andenterprises in Kitakyushu is expected to expand centeringon environmental field in the future.
Kazuya Kudo
KITA Technological Cooperation Department（Consigned by the ROTOBO/Supported by
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry）

The team leader and the president of NMD signing the agreement

Russian inspection team visiting Kitakyushu City HallKITA NEWS No.4 09

News&Report

The topics of KITA training course
To Support Sewerage Projects in
Hohhot, China
In China, sewerage construction is now booming
especially in local urban areas. Among them, some are
implemented by yen loan and include training programs inJapan.
As the first case of such a training course at KITA, we
received participants from Hohhot late January 2007.
They stayed at Kitakyushu, Kyoto, Tokyo and Hokkaido inJapan for twelve days and learned basic seweragetechnology as well as state-of-the-art technology.
There will be two more training courses for Hohhot andeight for Kunming, China, which are also to be
implemented as part of Japan’s yen loan projects.
Akiko Terashi
KITA Environmental Cooperation Center

Mr. Seiji Yasuda (the third from the right),
the course leader, and Hohhot members

Former Participant from Egypt Becomesa KITA Course Lecturer!!
Mr. Khaled, who participated as a trainee from Egypt in2003 in the "Domestic Wastewater Treatment Technique
Course," was assigned to carry out as a lecturer in thesame course in 2006.
He is a graduate of the Chemistry Department at
Alexandria University and worked as a trainer at the
Damanfiel Training Center of the National Water andSewerage Office and then participated in this course andlearned domestic wastewater treatment technology forabout 3 months in 2003.
After completion of the course, he was hired by
Johkaso (purifier tank) maintenance company inWakamatsu in 2005 and made a devoted effort to acquire
ISO certification for the company. After that, it took only
one and half years for him to develop the ability to give alecture regarding Johkaso maintenance in place of thepresident of the company. We were a little anxious about
his lecture before presentation, but it turned out to bereally excellent. All the participants also offered thehighest praise for his excellent lecture.
KITA is waiting for the next Mr. Khaled to emerge from

10 KITA NEWS No.4

among the current participants!
Masaru Yamaguchi
KITA Training Division

Lecture using a model of JohkasoCounter measures for Environmental
Pollution in the Beautiful Country of Nepal
The five cities in the Katmandu basin are globally
recognized tourist destinations with a number of World
Heritage sites. However, in reality, they are also polluted
with garbage.
A specialized team from JICA was formed in 2004 andstarted a survey task. The Nepal Government has cometo consider the resident participation model waste
management initiated by administrative officers to be an
important policy. This waste management model includes
activities such as the collection and classification of plastic
and the composting of organic waste. Additionally, a newstyle final disposal site has been under operation for the
past two years. Successful operation is anticipated.
Aiming for improvements in the management ability ofadministrative officers, JICA has invited them to training
courses in Japan over the last 5 years. Coordination
between citizen activities and administrative efforts, andthe implementation of final disposal sites have brought
concrete results for participants. In this the final year, 6participants visited Japan and were very impressed withthe conditions established in this country. With a clear
image of the action plan in each of their minds, they left
for home country to utilize.
I sincerely hope to spread the successful results
achieved through this project to other beautiful countries
around the globe.
Course Leader Toshiyasu Kaneko

participants from Nepal at front of KIC

International friendship promotion
Realizing "World is Broad" throughExchanges with Program Participants"Thanks" is a Magic Word
Host Family Member
Kiyoharu Horinouchi

Host Family Members
Hiroshi Nakamura
Akiko Nakamura

parties at private homes 11 times and received wonderful

While I was in Brazil 21 years ago, I was invited toSince we welcomed the first participant to our home in

hospitality from the people I met. When I was wondering if

1989, we have met and gotten to know more than 50

there was any way I could return a favour to the foreigners

people from various countries. The reason why we havein Japan, a colleague of mine recommended that mybeen able to be a host family continuously over the years

family and I could become a host family, andis that we have both stayed healthy and hosting

subsequently I registered in the host family program ofparticipants has become a family event, but most

KITA.

importantly, we have come to realize how broad the worldis by interacting with people from around the world.

I always think that the most basic factor for a host to
make a guest happy is to try to understand their

Meeting a person from the unfamiliar country, and being

personality and attend to them by acknowledging how

exposed to the situations of the country are very

they might feel. To do that, an openness to accept

stimulating and is our motivation to continue a host family.

different cultures and the insight to reveal things that are

Every time we watch the world news, we imagine ournot obvious are important. Furthermore, "hello" andguests’ smiles and we wonder, "How are they doing?","thanks" are indispensable words to communicate our"Was studying in Japan helpful for them?", "Have their

feelings. I also taught these two words to our children, andlifestyles changed after experiencing Japanese culture

they have grown up to become really friendly people andand life style?" We feel that our priority is to study

have acquired quite good language skills, thanks to theJapanese culture and history more deeply so that we canrelationship with our guests.

introduce accurate information about Japan to our guests.

The writer Tsuyoshi Itsukaichi wrote that he was once

In the early years when we started hosting guests fromtold by an elderly lady while he was traveling in Israel,overseas, our daughters were still students. Now they are"Your luck will grow if you chant thanks when you

both married and have become parents themselves.

confront difficulties, and thanks again when a good

Recently our granddaughters have also been meeting andthing happens" in his book called "The Magic Word thatgetting to know our guests. We hope that they, even at

Brings Luck".

their young age, can learn that the world is vast and there

I always feel grateful to our guests who bring luck to ourare many different people who live on this planet. We

home. I now actively involve my two-year-old grandchild in

would be really happy if our small efforts can make aactivities with our guests. We will continue to cherish thecontribution to our guests’ countries in some way. Our

word "thanks".

great dream is to visit their countries and see them again
someday if we can.

home party welcoming Maria-san, Argentine (front, left)

cheerful talk with KITA participants (left)

KITA NEWS No.4 11

News and Information
Seminar for Engineers in Small and Medium（M&S）Industry of Korea in 2006
This seminar was organized its 13th anniversary thisyear. The following four training courses were held for 40days from late July, accepting 30 participants. These
courses were offered in Japanese. There were someissues such as the varying levels of language ability,
different business styles and a wide age range among theparticipants. However, supported by the participants
dedicated involvement, seriousness and high motivation,
the seminar was able to achieve excellent results and washighly praised by the participants.
Training Courses
・Basic Management for Managers of S&M Industry
・Technologies to Improve Productivity for Engineers
・Metal Processing and Quality Improvement
・Technology for Efficient Utilization of Plant Equipment
The achievements of this seminar were reported in
Korea last November. A representative from each of thesecourses presented the results. In spite of such a shortcourse time of only 2 and half months, we were able toconfirm good progress.
contributed by Kentaro Kinoshita
Technical Cooperation Div, of KITA

at Gyeongsan regional training institute"THE PAN YELLOW SEA CJK ECONOMIC & TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE"
was held in China, September.
The sixth of this conference held in Rizhao, China on
September 21st and 22nd . The purpose of this conference
was the development of economy in promoting technicalinterchange of various countries facing the Yellow Sea in
East Asia.
Exceeds 400 people from China, Korea and Japan
participated in this conference and interchanged eachother meaningfully. KITA offered the international
environmental cooperation including training projects
together with Kitakyushu City.
Yuji Yasuda
KITA Environmental Cooperation Centerwith Mr.Imanaga (left) at Conference Hall

Water Quality Monitoring Course for Sri Lanka(Grass Roots Project of JICA)

Environmental Education through Tree-planting
Activities in Cebu, the Philippines

This training course was proposed by KITA to JICA to
improve water environment in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya,
both of which are famous tourism cities and have waterpollution problems due to rapid urbanization in Sri Lanka.
Inviting three participants, one from Central
Environment Authority (CEA), and the others from twocities, a three-week training course, including exerciseson sampling and analyses as well as administrative
lectures, was done in October 2006.
The participants made an action plan focusing on
building a collaborative monitoring system among theparties, CEA and the cities, which we hope will be
successfully implemented and helpful to know the actual
situation of the environment, which is the first step toimprove it. The project will continue for three years and
KITA is to follow up the result.

KITA has close relations with environmental NGOs in
Cebu, namely Pollution Control Association in thePhilippines Inc. (PCAPI) and Citizens’ League for
Ecological Awareness and Responsibility (CLEAR), andhas implemented many projects with them since 1997. In
September 2006, tree-planting was done, using a fund by
AEON Environment Foundation Japan, around Sapandaku
Barangay, a community located upper Guadarupe River in
Cebu. The project aims not only to control water in theriver but also to help residents’ earnings by planting fruit
trees. There were a lot of children participated in this treeplanting project. We hope they grow with those plants andfind a better environment in the future. A seminar toencourage people to grow trees around rivers was also
held.

KITA NEWS

April 2007 No.4

All correspondence should be addressed to : Kitakyushu International Techno-cooperative Association(KITA)
International Village Center, Kitakyushu 1-1-1 Hirano, Yahata-higashi-ku, Kitakyushu City, Japan 805-0062
Phone : +81-93-662-7174 FAX : +81-93-662-7177 E-mail : info@kita.or.jp Internet address : http://www.kita.or.jp