Reconstruction efforts should be accelerated in disaster-hit areas
(From The Japan Times June 15 issue)

被災地の復興を急げ

Three months have passed since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku Pacific coastal areas. Many of the areas and local residents remain in a crisis situation. More than 15,400 people are dead and about 8,000 others are missing. About 85,000 people reside in temporary shelters. They are forced to lead difficult lives there.

As a rainy season sets in, there will arise dangers of food poisoning and infectious diseases. The progress of reconstruction is different from municipality to municipality.

In some municipalities, debris piles up in urban areas because dumping sites cannot be secured. In others, restaurants and hotels have restarted operations. Heavy construction machines and a large number of workers need to be sent to areas where the removal of debris is slow.

All-out efforts should be made to meet the government's goal of removing all debris by August.

While some 52,000 temporary houses are needed in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, only half that number has been completed. Many of them have been built in inland areas far from traditional communities. Sites on higher ground near the devastated communities have been set aside for construction of permanent houses.

Some refugees have refused to live in temporary houses because they are far from their workplaces or schools.

In temporary shelters, it is difficult to protect one's privacy. But food is delivered, doctors make regular visits and volunteers help those staying there.

Once people start living in temporary housing, they have to prepare meals and visit doctors by themselves. Municipalities must make special efforts to ensure that aged people living alone in temporary houses do not suffer from health problems.

Efforts to create new communities among people living in temporary houses will be indispensable.

In addition, the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. must mobilize all the available resources to bring the Fukushima nuclear crisis under control and decontaminate affected areas as soon as possible so residents who were forced to evacuate can return to their homes.

東日本大震災から3ヵ月、被災地では危機的状況が続いている。梅雨入りすれば、食中毒や感染症が懸念される。復興の進捗は自治体によってばらばらだ。がれきが市街地に積まれた地域もあれば、飲食店やホテルが営業を再開した地域もある。8月までにがれき全てを撤去するという政府の目標には全力での取り組みが必要だ。

岩手、宮城、福島で必要な仮設住宅5200棟のうち完成したのは半分。職場や学校が遠くなるという理由で入居を拒否する人もいる。自治体は、自炊や通院が必要となる仮設住宅暮らしで高齢者が体調を崩さないよう気を配らねばならない。住人同士の共同体作りも重要だ。

政府と東京電力は一刻も早く事態を収拾し、被災地の汚染物質を除去し、避難を強いられた住民が元の場所に戻れるようにすべきだ。