March 3, 2017
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2017 March 1 - 7 [SOCIAL ISSUES]
Vegetable brokers in Tsukiji oppose market relocation to polluted Toyosu site |
The two organizations, consisting of nearly 100 fruit and vegetable brokers in total, had previously supported the relocation plan promoted by the metropolitan government.
In late February, these associations delivered to affiliated traders a document in their joint names. The document points out that even if the governor declares the “safety” of the market, people will view it with a critical eye. “We cannot accept the relocation plan unless the safety of food is assured,” it states.
A vegetable broker in Tsukiji said to Akahata, “However hard we may claim that ‘Toyosu-brand foods are safe’, if consumers don’t buy them, our businesses will collapse. This is the feelings of local brokers.”
In September 2016, the group of Japanese Communist Party metropolitan assemblypersons revealed that the metropolitan authorities had failed to implement appropriate countermeasures against soil pollution at the planned market site in Toyosu where a Tokyo Gas factory was located. In January 2017, the Tokyo government conducted a sample survey of groundwater at the site and detected toxic substances such as benzene almost 80 times the maximum limit.
In the election for the chief director of the Tsukiji seafood broker association which was held this January, the candidate calling for a reconsideration of the transfer defeated the pro-relocation incumbent by a large margin.
It is reported that many retailers across the country have warned local brokers that they will stop dealing with the wholesalers in Tsukiji if the market moves to the contaminated district of Toyosu.
Past related article:
> Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to summon ex-Governor Ishihara over Toyosu scandal [February 23 & 28, 2017]
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