Lifting evacuation orders means less compensation to pay

April 2, 2014

Gov't eyes swift lifting of Fukushima evacuation orders to limit damages payouts

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140402p2a00m0na011000c.html 

The government is set to make all-out efforts to lift its evacuation orders for municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture as quickly as possible in a bid to hold down the amounts of compensation for damages from the 2011 nuclear crisis.

About 80,000 residents of areas for which evacuation orders have not been lifted are taking shelter elsewhere.

Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto said at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting on April 1, "There is a need for us to use all our resources to lift evacuation orders for as many areas as possible where people can return home early." Nemoto made the statement in response to a proposal presented to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by the ruling coalition's "Headquarters for Accelerating Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake." The government intends to lift evacuation orders for as many areas as possible during the so-called "intensive reconstruction period" through fiscal 2015.

And yet, at least some of the municipalities that still have evacuation areas are reluctant to accept the government's move.

The government pays 100,000 yen each every month to those people who have been forced to evacuate from areas around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant to compensate for their psychological pain. But the government will stop such payments to residents of both "residential restriction zones" and "zones being prepared for the lifting of evacuation orders" one year after the evacuation order is lifted for them. In other words, the earlier the government lifts the evacuation order, the smaller the amounts of compensation it needs to pay.

Naraha, where most of its area has been designated as a "zone being prepared for the lifting of evacuation orders," is taking precautions against the government's plan, saying, "For those municipalities that were forced to evacuate in their entirety, the longer the evacuation period becomes, the longer it will take to reconstruct them. It is too hasty and unrealistic to think they will be restored in one year and discontinue (compensation payments)." An official of the Katsurao Municipal Government said, "The residents are divided over the compensation issue. We want the government to continue to extend support in one form or another until each one of the residents puts their lives in order."

Yoshiaki Nakagawa, an official in charge of decontamination at the Iitate Municipal Government, said, "As for our return to the village, decontamination is important. When the residents return, the living conditions for such things as farming, medical institutions and shopping must be in place." The local government plans to set the timing of lifting the evacuation order in line with the reality. Therefore, it is considering lifting the evacuation order in March 2016 -- one year later than the date proposed by the central government.

April 02, 2014(Mainichi Japan)