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On March 24, a general assembly of the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake Response Headquarters was held inside the Diet.
The Chair of the Headquarters, DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, reported to the assembled Diet members on his visit of March 21 to encourage evacuees from Futaba Town in Fukushima Prefecture, who are currently housed in the “Saitama Super Arena”, as well as explaining the process behind the setting up of joint meetings between the various political parties to coordinate the response to the disaster. He also commented on the convening of the first meeting of the “Tohoku Pacific Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction Study Committee” (provisional translation) on March 23, saying, “We have established a Study Committee as a forum to discuss recovery and reconstruction in the aftermath of the disaster. We are establishing teams to study the implementation of special measures legislation, the revision of public expenditure, the formation of a reconstruction vision, and the drafting of a supplementary budget. In this way, we would like to proceed with discussing the basic way of thinking on recovery and reconstruction.” Okada urged Diet members to participate actively in the proposed study teams.
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, member of the House of Councillors Hirokazu Shiba, reported on the government’s ongoing response to the disaster. He commented, “Today marks the 13th day since the earthquake struck, and the suffering experienced by the survivors is beyond anything we can imagine.” He said that the government was bearing this reality in mind in focusing on efforts to ensure that assistance was reaching the survivors of the disaster currently living in evacuation centres.
The Secretary General of the government headquarters for special measures to assist the lives of disaster victims, Senior Vice Minister at the Cabinet Office Tatsuo Hirano, reported on the situation observed during a visit to the affected areas in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In addition, having experienced the situation on the ground at first hand, he urged Diet members to make every effort to ensure that the assistance provided matches the needs of the affected areas. Hirano also reported on the response to emergencies, such as the situation at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
From the party side, Deputy Secretary General Osamu Fujimura (Secretary General of the Headquarters) reported on the number and content of enquiries and requests that had been made to the Headquarters, as well as explaining that the Diet members attached to the disaster volunteer preparation room established by the party had undertaken independent inspections of the affected areas, and conveyed requests from survivors to the government and the party. He also said that the various subsections of the party’s Policy Research Committee had received requests from the affected areas conveyed during hearings from organizations in various fields.
With regard to the ongoing response, Organisation Committee Chair Katsuhiko Yokomitsu announced that earthquake response headquarters had been established in DPJ prefectural offices nationwide, and that liaison offices had been established within the party Response Headquarters to collate the information from the worst-affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki.
National Rallying and Canvassing Committee Chair Shu Watanabe said that the disaster volunteer room had dispatched a team of volunteers including Diet members to Matsushima Town in Miyagi Prefecture on March 27. He said that the volunteer room was planning to engage in efforts to remove the enormous quantity of mud that had accumulated in the aftermath of the tsunami.
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