Akatsuki Eazima Company Limited Formerly known as Eazima Co., Ltd.. The Company's principal activities are construction and the provision of construction facilities such as elevator and escalator installation; heating and cooling installation; civil engineering works; sewage construction electrical power installation and industrial plant facilities maintenance. Other activities include sales, importation and exportation of facility equipment as well as maintenance and real estate buying, selling and leasing. Construction facilities work accounted for 86% of fiscal 2001 revenues; building maintenance, 8%; civil engineering works, 3%; plant construction, 3% and real estate leasing, nominal.
Eazima Co., Ltd had been contracted through UNOPS, the largest provider of project-management services to the United Nations. UNOPS clients entrust more than $500 million of their resources to UNOPS every year. The market for development services and goods is competitive, even aggressive. The management and reduction of financial risk is an integral part of UNOPS' service.
According to the Project Manager, he alleges that UPOPS engaged Eazima Co., Ltd to undertake a construction project in Laos. Eazima Co., Ltd sub-contracted a local company [Lao-Ibaneza]. Lao-Ibaneza were a joint venture company with Lao PDR and short on capital for equipment, so Eazima Co., Ltd provided the cash injection of three hundred and eighty five thousand US dollars, and according to their agreement, the local company [Lao-Ibaneza] provided six or seven earthmoving units to support the project completion.
Lao-Ibaneza failed to complete the project. The two companies tried to resolve the problem amicably but negotiations became frustrated.
Eazima Co., Ltd was instructed by the UN to complete the project. They seized the earthmoving equipment to complete the works and regardless of the fact that this was not illegal, Lao-Ibaneza complained to local authorities.
The Eazima Co., Ltd Project Manager, a Lao-Canadian, was arrested and sent to Phonthong prison. He went to court and was sentenced to four years imprisonment but won a reduced sentence - so he'd only serve three years and three months. Eazima Co., Ltd wrote to the court in support of their manager but the Laos court ignored the letter. Eazima Co., Ltd's attempt to resolve the situation amicably had failed. The Project Manager overstayed his sentencing in Phonthong Prison by one year. His health had deteriorated considerably.
The Canadian Embassy was based in Bangkok and had no in country representation. Inevitably, the responsibility of his consular support fell on the shoulders of the Australian Embassy that provided consular support to commonwealth citizens. They looked after the Project Manager as best they could but he was still disappointed that no-one from his own Embassy had ever visited him apart from the later stages of his detainment.
Eventually the Project Manager was released in 2001 and was forced to flee the country when the Ibaneza Group reneged on their agreement for his release. They wanted the Project Manager to reimburse their company US$350,000 personally.
Bilateral relations in no way provided any protection for this manager who was being held hostage for financial gain.
Both Eazima Co., Ltd and Ibaneza were Japanese companies. The dispute ought to have been settled through a board of arbitration between two companies but again, the Laos authorities interfere in order to extract their own penalty and financial reward.
In such cases, corporate insurance claims ought to determine outcomes, not human suffering.
