September 12, 2018

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko on September 11 urged the Agriculture Ministry to provide financial support to Hokkaido’s dairy farming industry which was heavily damaged by the latest quake.

A 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on September 6, causing a prefecture-wide power blackout. The power supply has yet to be fully recovered.

Following the quake, Kami visited Hokkaido to survey the extent of damage and to listen to quake victims’ immediate concerns.

Explaining to ministry officials in charge that the quake delivered a severely damaging blow to dairy farming, one of the key industries in Hokkaido, Kami gave some examples of the damages caused by the suspension of the electricity supply. She said that dairy cattle have suffered from mastitis due to difficulties associated with the halt of the operation of milking equipment and that farmers have had to throw out whatever milk was produced as milk buyers are suspending their orders.

In response to the JCP lawmaker, the officials said that the ministry will take measures to support dairy farmers, including financial assistance to cover vet bills for mastitis cows and the cost of repairing barns damaged by the quake.

Kami demanded that the ministry also take action so that dairy farmers can keep their businesses running.

Later on the same day, at the directors’ meetings of the special committee on natural disaster recovery in both Houses of the Diet, the JCP proposed that an extraordinary session be convened without delay to deal with recovery measures to be implemented from the latest Hokkaido quake and the powerful typhoon Jebi.

Past related article:
> Review of counter-disaster measures needed to quickly respond to serious disasters [September 10, 2018]