Two and a Half Years Passed

It is the 2.5 years anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake today. About twenty-nine thousand people are still displaced left their own houses. Displaced people in Fukushima have no future of returning back, due to the broken nuclear power plant substantially uncontrollable. International community needs to be careful of the situation of human rights of those sufferers.

Most displaced people are living in temporary houses. Those are actually shabby makes prepared by the government, hot and humid in summer and extremely cold in winter. With delay of schedule to build up, most residents will have to spend the third winter after the disaster happened.

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has been ignoring true situation of them. “I’m presenting a plan for people in Fukushima of returning back to the house by this summer,” he said in the press conference on March 11^th, the day of second anniversary of the quake. The government of Japan showed nothing about the schedule for their return. To implement the promise, the government needed to make a plan for cleaning the contaminated land up for living. The Ministry of Environment gave up its effort to be done by the end of next March, because they simply realized it was impossible. New goal has not been presented.

More serious is contaminated water from the site. While Abe assured International Olympic Committee that the water had been under control, the water kept on flowing to the sea uncontrollably. Media reported that there had formerly been a river in the place where First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is. Major ground water stream still exist deep in the site and flowing to the sea. The exit of the stream is about ten kilometers off the shore, far outside from annexed port of the plant, within where Abe told the contaminated water was contained.

Although Abe is highly irresponsible for ignoring his promise to make returning schedule for displaced people, growing number of suffers are abandoning to go home. Dishonest attitude of politicians and bureaucrats makes them feeling disappointed. Young families are reluctant to go back to where radioactively contaminated. Even how old people want to go home, the government does not show whether they can do it in their lifetime.

Looking to the activeness on enthusiasm to Olympic games, constitution amendment, and economic recovery, Abe administration looks like trying to forget the disaster. It will not be tolerated for both people in Japan and international community, if he ignores the hardship of sufferers and the unprecedented maritime pollution by radioactive materials.