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On May 23, the DPJ Disaster Volunteer Bureau, headed by Shu Watanabe, convened a briefing session inside the Diet to report the results of the “evacuation centre research” carried out by DPJ Diet members in the affected regions during the Golden Week holiday period.
More than 70 DPJ Diet members visited evacuation centres during the period May 1 to 8. They administered aural questionnaires and the results were compiled into an interim report. Around 170 evacuation centres were surveyed.
The results of the research were delivered to the head of the DPJ branch office in each electoral district, and were also analysed by the bureaus set up within the Disaster Response Headquarters to coordinate the response within each of the disaster-affected prefectures. The research had helped to enhance the DPJ’s grasp of the situation in the evacuation centres as well as providing information to assist with the relief effort.
Watanabe said, “The needs [of survivors] have been carefully researched. The results of the research will be conveyed to Diet members, prefectural offices and the government. I would like this to make us aware of what we can do for the affected areas, and to be of use in preparing questions for Diet committees and in our activities in our local communities.”
Secretary General Katsuya Okada, who was also present at the meeting, commented, “It is our job to follow up periodically, receive information and feed it into policy.”
*Shu Watanabe will be one of the speakers at the Seventh Meeting of Café Democrats, a discussion forum for diplomats stationed in Japan, which will be held from 16:00 to 17:15 on June 7 at DPJ Party Headquarters. The theme of the meeting is “Tohoku Three Months On: Changing Needs and the Ongoing Relief Effort”. Interested diplomats should register with the DPJ International Department.
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