Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 2 - 8 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP Oyama demands further clarification of Toyosu market scandal

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko announced on November 11 that she will discipline eight metropolitan government officials for failing to implement appropriate countermeasures against soil contamination at the Toyosu fish market site. Following the announcement, Secretary General of the Japanese Communist Party metropolitan assemblypersons’ group Oyama Tomoko published a comment calling for further clarification.

A report by the investigation team set up by the Tokyo government states that in defiance of the original plan, metropolitan officials in charge of opening the new market decided in August 2011 to create open spaces beneath the new facilities at the site. Those who have been named for disciplinary punishment are eight ex-officials of the department which operates wholesale markets in the capital, including an incumbent deputy governor.

In her comment, Oyama underscored the need to pursue ex-Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro’s responsibility for this matter because he had pressed ahead with the project to relocate the Tsukiji fish market to the Toyosu district. She went on to stress that it is “essential” for the Metropolitan Assembly to establish a special investigation commission based on Article 100 of the Local Government Law in order to obtain an overall picture of the Toyosu issue.

Pointing to the fact that the newly installed system to control polluted groundwater is not working as planned, Oyama argued that Governor Koike should scrap the relocation project as soon as possible.