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HOME  > Past issues  > 2015 May 27 - June 2  > JCP demands that gov’t take emergency measures to help volcano evacuees
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2015 May 27 - June 2 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP demands that gov’t take emergency measures to help volcano evacuees

June 2, 2015
Five Dietmembers of the Japanese Communist Party on June 1 conveyed to the Cabinet Office the requests of the evacuees from a volcanic eruption and demanded that necessary relief measures be urgently taken.

The JCP lawmarkers also demanded that the Meteorological Agency strengthen the monitoring of Mt. Shindake on Kuchinoerabu-jima Island (Kagoshima Pref.) and provide comprehensive information to the islanders who are now taking refuge in the neighboring island of Yakushima.

Based on what the JCP found out from interviews with the evacuees on the day following the eruption (May 29), the legislators explained the inconvenience the evacuees are now experiencing: the shelters’ linoleum floor with only plastic sheets is so uncomfortable that they cannot sleep well; no privacy is ensured because the shelters are not partitioned; and the shelters separate males from females, splitting up families.

The JCP representatives suggested the utilization of hotel rooms, guest houses, and vacant dwellings so that families can stay together. Their suggestions also include a measure to transport private vehicles out of Kuchinoerabu-jima before volcanic gases corrode the automobiles.

Many of the evacuees are worried about possible financial problems due to damage to farm crops and animals they have left behind in Kuchinoerabu-jima. JCP member of the House of Councilors Nihi Sohei stated, “Interest-free loans without security or guarantor requirements are absolutely necessary.”

On the same day, JCP members of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly and of the affected town assembly urgently submitted a written demand to Governor Ito Yuichi in order to: ensure privacy in the shelters; send doctors and nurses to the shelters; provide natural disaster victims relief money without delay; provide financial aid to help the victims to buy necessary supplies; and install devices to detect the presence of sulfuric acid gases.
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