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On January 14, Prime Minister and DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama spoke to reporters regarding the Haitian earthquake. Hatoyama expressed his condolences for the many lives that had been lost, and his hopes that those still missing could be rescued as soon as possible, and that those injured in the disaster could make a safe recovery. He went on, “I believe that the entire Haitian nation is facing a very difficult situation, and therefore, that there is a need for us to consider as quickly as possible what Japan can do to help.” Hatoyama said, “First of all we will dispatch a 6 member team consisting of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and JICA, and investigate what Japan can do to help. We will immediately provide financial and material assistance, however, with the scale of the disaster estimated to be huge, there will be cooperation from around the world, and so I would like us to exert every effort toward saving the lives of the people of Haiti.”
Hatoyama went on to comment on the ending of the SDF refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean, which was scheduled to come to an end on January 15. He expressed his gratitude to the SDF troops involved for their efforts, saying, “They have worked really hard. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to each and every one of them.” He added, “If I were to talk about the political significance [of the mission], it seems the work of refuelling has not necessarily been of sufficient significance in recent years…I believe that it is civilian assistance that is important in order to secure the economic stability and peace of Afghanistan.”
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