Keep the assistance flowing

新潟中越地震
被災地への支援

According to the Niigata Local Meteorological Observatory, the first of Niigata's heavy snowfalls usually comes in late November. But construction work for temporary housing reportedly is not progressing as fast as expected.

In addition to building temporary housing, local governments have decided to provide adjacent day-care facilities so that elderly people can have access to bathing and meal services. They are taking steps to maintain predisaster communities by having villagers close together in the temporary housing. They are learning from the experience of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, when some elderly people suffered lonely deaths in the temporary housing.

The temporary housing built in the wake of the Great Hanshin Earthquake was used for five years. Ideally people should spend as little time as possible in temporary housing, but stays might have to be prolonged for many victims. Therefore, a safe, robust living environment must be built.

To help finance the reconstruction of damaged houses, measures have been taken on the basis of a law for disaster assistance and a law to restore normal life for affected residents. The government and Niigata Prefecture have announced that they will apply these laws flexibly and add extra assistance. The latter law was enacted after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, and a revision went into effect in April that raised the maximum amount of assistance to ¥3 million per victim. However, the use of this assistance is limited to the dismantlement and removal of housing that has been completely or substantially destroyed, land readjustment and the procurement of household effects.

After the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake opposition parties submitted a revision of the law to the extraordinary session of the Diet that calls for expanding the application of the assistance to include construction, purchase and repair expenses. The National Association of National Governors has urgently called for a similar revision. Although only half a year has passed since the last amendment to the law, the Diet should put priority on assistance to the victims and finish debates on this newly proposed revision as quickly as possible.

Learning from the experience of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, many local governments have provided assistance to Niigata's victims. As well as support from prefectures with which Niigata Prefecture had concluded mutual disaster-support agreements — Hokkaido, the Tohoku region, Gunma, Nagano, Toyama and Ishikawa — assistance has come from other areas, too.

Immediately after the first temblor struck, medical teams and emergency firefighting and rescue units, which had been set up after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, raced to the scene. Danger surveys were virtually completed early this month. Staff, nurses, mental-care counselors, and other specialists are busy issuing disaster-victim certificates, managing evacuation facilities, assessing damage, collecting garbage, restoring sewerage systems and assisting victims.

Nerima Ward in Tokyo dispatched staff in response to a request from Kawaguchi-machi, where the earthquake measured a maximum 7 on the Japanese intensity scale. Kawaguchi-machi and Nerima Ward have shared an exchange relationship since Kawaguchi-machi began exhibiting its specialties at Nerima's festival about 10 years ago. Nearly 30 staff members from Nerima are assisting in the management of an evacuation facility and the issue of a public-relations newspaper. Nerima sent six garbage trucks to collect resource-rich trash and bring it back to Nerima for processing.

The end of the year is a busy time for all municipalities, but we hope that local governments will continue to dispatch specialists, equipment and materials to Niigata in response to the disaster zone's needs, which will change as reconstruction progresses.

The Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 27, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

      新潟地方では、11月下旬には積雪が予想されているが、仮設住宅の建設は遅れている。

      関係自治体は、高齢者に入浴や食事のサービスを提供するデイケア施設を仮設住宅に併設することを決めた。阪神大震災後、仮設住宅に入居した高齢者の孤独死が相次いだため、同様の問題を防ぐのが狙いだ。

      阪神大震災後に建てられた仮設住宅は5年間使用された。仮設住宅での生活はできるだけ短期間に留めるべきだが、多くの被災者にとっては滞在が長期にわたる可能性がある。したがって、仮設住宅は安全で頑丈なものが望ましい。

      損壊した住宅の再建のために、災害援助法、被災者生活再建支援法のもとで財政措置が取られた。支援法では、被災者ひとり当たり300万円の支援が受けられるが、その用途は壊れた住宅の撤去や生活必需品購入などに限られている。

      新潟中越地震後、野党陣営は支援を住宅建設、修理などにも充てられるよう、支援法改正法案を臨時国会に提出した。支援法は半年前に改正されたばかりだが、国会は法案を早期に成立させるべきである。

      阪神大震災から教訓を学んだ全国の自治体は新潟の被災地に援助を提供している。

      震災発生後、医療スタッフや消防、レスキュー隊が現地へ急行、各専門チームは被災証明書の発行、避難所の管理、損害の調査、ごみ処理、下水道の修理など、被災者への支援に忙しい。

      東京・練馬区役所は震度7を記録した川口町へ支援スタッフを派遣した。区役所職員およそ30人が避難所の管理、広報誌の発行を行なっている。

      年末は忙しい時期だが、 各自治体が支援チーム、機器、資材などを被災地に送ることが望まれる。