Japan Press Weekly

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2023 December 20 - 2024 January 9 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Shii in New Year address: Let us work hard to support Noto Peninsula Earthquake victims!

A powerful earthquake, which registered 7.6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, jolted the Noto Peninsula (Ishikawa Prefecture) and surrounding areas on New Year’s Day.

The government of heavily-damaged Ishikawa Prefecture on January 4 announced that 84 people have been confirmed dead and that 33,500 people are taking refuge at 371 temporary shelters. According to the prefectural government, it is believed that many people are still trapped under collapsed buildings and houses and thus the number of missing people is expected to increase from the current 79.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in his New Year speech on January 4 at the JCP head office expressed his sincere condolences over the loss of life and offered his sympathy to quake victims. He also expressed his heartfelt solidarity to JCP members who are working hard in the disaster-affected areas to help the victims.

Shii said that the JCP at a party task force meeting two days earlier decided that it will make relief efforts in line with disaster victims’ demands and will engage in a fund-raising campaign for disaster relief. He added that the party began carrying out these activities immediately.

Shii reported that JCP member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi and ex-JCP Lower House member Fujino Yasufumi already visited Ishikawa’s Wajima City and conducted an on-site survey. He said that the survey found out that the most urgent need is the provision of food.

Referring to the fact that many houses collapsed due to the quake, Shii said that the JCP will urge the Kishida government to make all-out efforts to secure housing for the disaster victims. In addition, Shii said that the JCP will demand that the government provide drastic assistance for industrial recovery in the quake-hit region and to decommission the Shika and Kashiwazaki -Kariwa nuclear power plants, both of which are located in the quake-hit areas.

Shii said, “Let us display the party’s founding spirit of devoting ourselves to relieving people’s sufferings and focus our efforts on providing aid to disaster-stricken areas and local residents!”