Machinery maker Kubota Corp. will apologize and provide compensation to the bereaved families of residents near its former plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, who died from an asbestos-linked disease and to people suffering from the illness, Kubota sources said Friday.

Kubota President Daisuke Hatakake will meet victims of the disease and the families who have lost a family member to the illness for the first time in Amagasaki on Sunday and announce the compensation policy, they said.

Kubota will admit its moral responsibility for the asbestos-related health problems near the plant but is unlikely to admit to any relation between the asbestos at the plant and the mesothelioma among residents near the plant, the sources said.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer known to be caused by asbestos exposure. Kubota has been paying 2 million yen to sufferers of the asbestos-related illness per person as a monetary gift and the same amount to the bereaved families as condolence money.

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