Japan Press Weekly

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2011 March 23 - 29 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

Shii visits disaster-hit areas in Fukushima

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on March 27 visited disaster-stricken areas in Fukushima Prefecture and talked with municipal heads leading local relief efforts.

In Iitate Village, 40km northwest of the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant, Mayor Kanno Norio said to Shii in tears, “We want to save our village which we have managed to maintain without merging with surrounding municipalities. We want the combined wisdom of the world to gather and contain the nuclear reactor damage.”

Due to the radioactive contamination of soil and tap water detected in Iitate Village, the shipment of local agricultural products has been suspended. In response to the mayor’s demand that the information of radioactive contamination be continuously provided, Shii promised to urge the government to release all related information.

The JCP chair also visited Minamisoma City, which encompasses both the evacuation zone within 20km from the nuclear power plant and the 20- to 30-km zone where residents have been told to stay indoors.

At the city office, Mayor Sakurai Katsunobu criticized the national government for issuing a voluntary evacuation order to residents in the 20-30km zone without notifying the city. Sakurai said, “The government made the announcement without offering compensation to evacuees or providing a clear reason for changing its policy to ‘voluntary evacuation’ from ‘staying indoors’. This increases the anger and anxiety among local residents. The state must act in a more responsible manner.” Right now 20,000 out of 70,000 residents still remain in Minamisoma.

Sakurai also gave Shii the following requests: the electric company and the national government should provide information to municipalities so that they can accurately determine the current conditions and the Cabinet Secretariat should dispatch its staff to the municipalities to listen to their needs.

Later on the day, Shii told reporters that if the government does not designate the 20-30km zone as an evacuation zone, then it has a responsibility to send everyday goods to the residents there. “If it is deemed a dangerous zone, the government should order residents to leave the area and offer them a place to be evacuated to,” he added.

“Information is not being provided to municipal offices and they should be the first to receive information,” said Shii. Stating that Iitate Village has not received recommendations of appropriate measures to take since the high level of radiation was measured in the local soil and water, Shii stressed, “The state government should release all relevant data and indicate how best to respond to the radioactive contamination.”

He also insisted that the government must send its staff to disaster-hit municipalities in order to provide them with necessary information and respond to their needs.