復興加速へ 住まいの再建が喫緊の課題だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 11, 2014
Housing reconstruction remains an urgent task 3 years after disaster
復興加速へ　住まいの再建が喫緊の課題だ（3月11日付・読売社説）

　◆支援の「格差」是正に目配りを

Today marks the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
　東日本大震災から３年を迎えた。

In addition to 18,500 people who died or went missing in the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, disaster-related deaths have continued to rise. As many as 270,000 people are still living as evacuees, while 100,000 are living in prefabricated temporary housing.
　１万８５００人の死者・行方不明者に加え、震災関連死も増え続ける。今も２７万人が避難生活を余儀なくされ、プレハブ仮設住宅で暮らす人は１０万人に上る。

It must be stressed anew that all-Japan efforts are needed to assist the disaster victims.
　国を挙げて被災者を支援していく。その思いを新たにしたい。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference Monday that reconstruction is still just “halfway” done. “I am determined to make the people feel reconstruction this year,” Abe said. He announced plans to move people to higher ground in 200 locations and build more than 10,000 housing units by next March.
　安倍首相は１０日、復興の現状について「道半ば」との認識を示した。「復興を実感できる１年にする決意だ」とも語り、来年３月までに、２００か所の高台移転や１万戸以上の住宅建設を実現させると表明した。

It is essential to carry out policies steadily to accelerate reconstruction.
　政策を着実に実行し、復興の加速につなげることが肝要だ。

Difficulty in land acquisition
　◆宅地確保が進まない

To secure stable housing, local governments in the disaster-affected areas are taking such measures as promoting mass moves to higher ground and construction of recovery housing units.
　安定した住まいの確保策として被災地の自治体が進めているのが、高台への集団移転や復興住宅建設などである。

The government has come up with a policy to spur housing reconstruction by establishing a system under which measures are discussed by bureau-chief level officials of the government ministries and agencies concerned under the leadership of Takumi Nemoto, state minister for reconstruction. This is praiseworthy, to a degree, as a reinforcement of the Reconstruction Agency’s role as a control tower.
　政府は、根本復興相の指揮下で関係省庁の局長級が対応を協議する仕組みを作り、住宅再建の促進策を打ち出してきた。復興庁の司令塔機能強化の具体策として、一定の評価はできよう。

The fact remains, however, that housing lots and reconstruction housing units made available to the disaster survivors in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures as of early February amounted to the equivalent of 985 units, a mere 2.1 percent of the total planned number. Thus, the delay in housing reconstruction is serious.
　しかし、岩手、宮城、福島３県で、２月初めまでに被災者に引き渡された宅地や復興住宅は、総計画数の２・１％の９８５戸分に過ぎない。住宅再建の遅れは極めて深刻である。

One reason for that is the difficulty in acquiring land. It takes time to ascertain the rights related to plots of land because their owners are often unknown, posing a significant obstacle for land transactions.
　原因の一つは、用地取得の難しさだ。所有者が不明で、権利関係の把握に時間のかかる土地が多いことが、障害になっている。

The Iwate prefectural government has asked the central government to allow starting construction without an owner’s permission in the case of land whose owners are not accounted for. The prefecture did so probably because it felt that only a limited effect can be obtained by implementing the government policies, such as shortening the screening period for land expropriation.
　岩手県は、所有者不明の土地の場合、所有者の同意がなくても着工できる制度を設けるよう、政府に要望した。土地収用手続きの審査期間短縮といった政府の対策だけでは、限界があると実感しているのだろう。

Spikes in construction material prices and manpower shortages have further delayed housing projects.
　建設資材の高騰や人手不足も、住宅整備の遅れに追い打ちをかけている。

Bidding on contracts to build reconstruction housing has failed time and again.
復興住宅建設などに絡む入札不調も相次いでいる。

The longer housing reconstruction is delayed, the more residents leave, thereby further accelerating the decline of disaster-stricken areas. The government must cope with the situation swiftly and flexibly by listening to the needs of local governments and residents.
　住宅の整備が遅れるほど、住民が流出し、被災地は一層衰退してしまう。政府は、地元の要望に耳を傾け、迅速かつ柔軟に対応していくことが大切である。

Consensus needed fast
　◆防潮堤合意を急ぎたい

Some communities were indeed protected from the quake-triggered tsunami by seawalls, so the central and local governments have been going ahead with seawall construction plans to prevent future tsunami deaths.
　東日本大震災では、防潮堤に守られた集落があった。行政側は、住民を二度と津波の犠牲にしたくないとして、防潮堤の建設計画を進めている。

But residents in some areas are asking for a review of construction plans for seawalls in their communities. Some of the primary objections include the fear that a high seawall could lead to complacency, making people become too dependent on seawalls for safety and lowering their guard against tsunami, and the impact that a high seawall can make on natural scenery.
　一方、住民の間には、計画の見直しを求める動きがある。防潮堤に頼り、かえって津波への警戒心が薄れる。高すぎて景観が損なわれる、といった理由からだ。

Abe said: “Residents’ feelings have become gradually settled [compared with immediately following the disaster]. With regards to the review [of the construction plans], the central government needs to consider the plans, while consulting with local governments.”
　首相も、震災直後に比べて「住民の気持ちがだんだん落ち着いてきた。今後、見直しについて、国も自治体と相談しながら考えていく必要がある」と述べた。

In some districts, a compromise between residents and local governments has been reached over seawall plans by relocating the building site of a seawall to a higher, inland ground, allowing a decrease in the height of the seawall corresponding to the elevation.
　防潮堤の場所を、標高の高い内陸側に移し、その分、高さを抑えることで折り合った地区もある。

Because the height of seawall construction is closely tied to the specifics of community reconstruction plans, including the location and extent of work to raise elevations in disaster-hit areas, local governments and residents should expedite their efforts to negotiate.
防潮堤の高さは、被災地のかさ上げの範囲など、地域の再興計画とも密接に関わるだけに、自治体と住民は協議を急ぐべきだ。

Compared with Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, post-disaster reconstruction in Fukushima Prefecture has been much delayed. In areas near Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station, there are districts where even the removal of debris has made almost no progress.
　岩手、宮城両県に比べ、福島県は復興の遅れが目立つ。東京電力福島第一原発周辺では、がれきの処理さえ進まない地域がある。

The government’s new guidelines on the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture, made public in December, shift from the previous policy of “eventually having all those who were forced to live as evacuees return home” to include for the first time support measures for evacuees who have decided to live elsewhere than their hometown.
　政府が昨年１２月に公表した福島復興の新指針は、これまでの「全員帰還」の方針を転換し、古里以外で住居を設けることにした避難者への支援策を初めて盛り込んだ。

In municipalities with districts that have unclear prospects for decontamination, and that have been deemed difficult for former residents to return to, a growing number of residents have chosen not to return to their original homes. The new guidelines do right by incorporating such ideas and facing up to reality.
　除染の見通しが立たない帰還困難区域を抱える自治体などでは、元の家に戻らないと決めた住民も増えている。新指針は、そうした現実を直視した妥当な内容である。

Compensation from TEPCO has opened a separate and worrisome rift between residents who have received payment and those who have not. Residents are also divided over the amount of compensation they are receiving.
　気がかりなのは、東電からの賠償金の有無や額を巡り、住民の間に溝が生まれていることだ。

In some cases, compensation amounts have differed among residents, even though their houses are located near the crippled power plant, with only small differences in distance. It is quite natural for residents to feel unconvinced. If sizable differences in the assistance distributed to residents exist, emotional conflicts could arise among them.
　福島第一原発からのわずかな距離の違いで、受給額などに差が出るケースがある。住民が割り切れない思いを抱くのも無理はない。住民への支援に大きな格差が生じれば、感情的な対立までもが引き起こされる。

Long delays in Fukushima
　◆遅れ目立つ福島の再生

Central and local governments must cooperate and hammer out measures that can relieve the sense of unfairness among them as much as possible.
　政府と自治体が連携し、住民の不公平感を少しでも解消する方策を検討せねばならない。

In Fukushima Prefecture, incumbent mayors were defeated one after another in mayoral elections held last year in Koriyama, Iwaki and Fukushima cities. Their defeats are said to have stemmed from the voters’ demand for change, as residents seemed to be gripped by a feeling of helplessness over the poor progress made in reconstruction.
　福島県では昨年、郡山、いわき、福島の３市長選などで現職が相次ぎ落選した。復興が進まないことによる閉塞感から、有権者が変化を求めた結果とみられている。

Residents were instructed to evacuate 11 cities, towns and villages. On April 1, evacuation instructions will be lifted for the first time for one district in the city of Tamura where the radiation level has declined thanks to the decontamination efforts. The lifting of evacuation instructions is a new step forward in post-disaster reconstruction.
　１１市町村に及ぶ避難指示区域のうち、除染の効果で放射線量が低減した田村市の対象地域で、来月１日、初めて避難指示が解除される。復興に向けた新たな一歩と言えるだろう。

If the people of Tamura are able to bring their daily lives back on track, it will give hope to others in the prefecture.
　帰還者の生活が軌道に乗れば、福島の人々に希望を与えよう。

The reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture is essential to move forward beyond the ravages of the quake and tsunami.
　震災の惨禍を乗り越えるには、福島の復興が不可欠である。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 11, 2014)
（2014年3月11日01時05分  読売新聞）