On March 11, DPJ President Banri Kaieda issued the following statement.

It is exactly three years ago to the day since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. Recalling once again that far too many precious lives were lost on that day, I would like to offer the expression of my deepest condolences. I would also like to extend my sincere sympathies to all those who suffered as a result of this disaster, in particular the more than 270,000 evacuees who are still being forced to live their lives in exile.

Utilising the experience and knowledge we gained when at the front line of the restoration and recovery efforts at the time of this unprecedented disaster, the Democratic Party of Japan will cooperate with the present ruling parties, ensuring that memories of the disaster do not fade, and working to accelerate the recovery effort in the affected areas.

Led by the Great East Japan Earthquake Restoration and Recovery Promotion Headquarters, the Democratic Party of Japan will listen to the voices of those from the disaster-affected regions, and work whole-heartedly to promote concrete recovery efforts.

In Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, the end is finally in sight in the efforts to remove and dispose of debris. However, only 1000 units of temporary housing for victims of the disaster have been completed, and we need to accelerate the shift of residential areas to higher ground and the improvement of infrastructure. We will focus every effort on ensuring that all of the recovery projects, beginning with those relating to the seafood processing industry, are completed as soon as possible, and facilitating the return of residential areas where people can live safely and securely, lively local communities, and workplaces where people can find sustained employment.

Furthermore, difficult issues still remain unresolved in the journey toward the revitalization of Fukushima. These include the work to decommission Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO)’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, delays in decontamination and compensation, and the economic damage caused by the stigma of the accident. We will accelerate the recovery process with concrete proposals such as implementing measures in line with the legislative intent of the Assistance for Children and Nuclear Disaster Victims Act, and a revision of the Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

Due to rapid increases in the cost of personnel and materials, there have been repeated instances of breakdowns in the bidding process for recovery projects and decontamination. We have repeatedly urged the government to address these issues in the Diet to ensure that the lavish display of unnecessary and non-urgent public works projects visible in the supplementary budget for fiscal 2013 and the initial budget for fiscal 2014 does not negatively impact on the implementation of reconstruction efforts.

We will call on the government and TEPCO to continue to engage in responsible efforts to ensure that the hopes of the long-term evacuees created by the nuclear accident “to return home, if not now then at some point in the future” do not go unanswered.

In order to communicate the lessons learnt from the nuclear accident to future generations and ensure that such a terrible accident never happens again, we will ensure that strict safety checks are implemented and promote measures centred on renewal energy, to move toward the realization of a society without nuclear power by the 2030s.

At our party convention held in Fukushima Prefecture on February 9, the Democratic Party of Japan adopted the ‘Fukushima Declaration’, and reaffirmed the promise we made to the Japanese people that “there can be no revitalisation of Japan without the recovery of Fukushima.” We will continue to support the population of the affected areas in order to realize the speedy recovery of those areas.