Many reconstruction plans must be reviewed

March 10, 2015

40% of municipalities in disaster-hit northeast say need to review reconstruction plans

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150310p2a00m0na014000c.html

Nearly four years after the March 11, 2011 triple disasters, 18 out of 42 local government chiefs, or 40 percent of local government heads, in the hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima say their reconstruction plans need to be reviewed, according to a survey conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun.

The Mainichi asked the chiefs of the municipalities in the three prefectures about the progress in their reconstruction plans. There has been little progress in work to rebuild or improve infrastructure in Fukushima Prefecture due to prolonged life as evacuees and a delay in decontamination work in the wake of the outbreak of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. At the same time, some reconstruction projects have been delayed in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures due to skyrocketing prices of materials, a lack of workers and other factors.

The central government is considering having local governments shoulder some of the reconstruction expenses after the end of the so-called "intensive reconstruction period" that runs through fiscal 2015. But local governments in the disaster-struck regions are asking the central government to extend the reconstruction period and continue to extend financial support to them.

The Mainichi conducted the questionnaire to chiefs of 12 municipalities in Iwate Prefecture, 15 municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture and 15 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture in February. Each municipal government set its reconstruction plan based on the Act on Special Zones for Reconstruction in Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake enacted in December 2011. Each municipal government set the reconstruction period at five to 10 years in line with reconstruction plans worked out by their relevant prefectural governments.

In the survey, the mayor of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture replied, "A thorough review is needed." Okuma is one of the municipalities hosting the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, and its entire town remains evacuated. The municipal government has already been reviewing its reconstruction plan, saying, "We are reviewing it in light of changing situations such as the reorganization of evacuation zones and setting up of temporary storage facilities, among other factors."

In the survey, 17 municipal government chiefs -- three in Iwate Prefecture, four in Miyagi Prefecture and 10 in Fukushima Prefecture -- said their reconstruction plans need to be reviewed "to some extent." The Natori Municipal Government in Miyagi Prefecture, faced with a daunting task of collectively relocating residents of the Yuriage district hit hard by tsunami, is asking the central government to continue to extend financial assistance, saying, "The situation has changed from the time when we worked out our reconstruction plan, and it is difficult to secure financial resources to carry it out." The mayor of Rifu in Miyagi Prefecture said the government-financed reconstruction period must be extended because reconstruction work has been delayed due to a lack of local government staff and the failure to attract bidders for public works projects.

Five out of 15 municipal government chiefs in Fukushima Prefecture responded to the survey that their decontamination plans need to be reviewed "to some extent." Decontamination work has continued to be delayed in such municipalities as Iwaki and Namie because they are "struggling to secure temporary storage sites" for contaminated soil.