Measures to deal with city quake 'refugees' slow in coming

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Although more than 5 million people were stranded in the Tokyo metropolitan area following the Great East Japan Earthquake, municipalities and companies are not close a year later to coming up with measures to house people in the event of another major disaster.

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Measures to deal with city quake 'refugees' slow in coming
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Although more than 5 million people were stranded in the Tokyo metropolitan area following the Great East Japan Earthquake, municipalities and companies are not close a year later to coming up with measures to house people in the event of another major disaster.

In Tokyo’s 23 wards and nine major cities in the metropolitan area and Chubu and Kinki regions --where inland earthquakes could strike--only 83 private companies and businesses in 10 municipalities have agreed to provide shelter for those unable to return home, like after last year’s March 11 quake.

The number is far too low to accommodate the expected massive numbers of stranded workers and commuters.

According to a government estimate, 3.52 million people in Tokyo and 5.15 million in the surrounding metropolitan area were unable to return home by midnight on March 11, 2011.

Behind the reluctance to cooperate on the part of companies is apparently a lack in specifying the degree of responsibility and compensation for costs incurred.

The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to consult with the central government to come up with guidelines for seeking cooperation by the autumn in an effort to promote agreements.

The agreement between a municipality and a company will include providing food, water and lodging for several nights.

Of Tokyo’s three central wards, Chiyoda Ward has reached an agreement with two companies and Minato Ward has an understanding with 25 companies, but Chuo Ward has not reached any agreements with any companies.

Minato Ward officials visited 88 of about 45,000 companies operating in the ward, but only a few dozen companies have agreed to cooperate, a ward official said.

While 1.4 million people are expected to have difficulty returning home in the three wards alone if an inland earthquake strikes, only 24,000 people will have secure places to stay.

In total, eight wards and two cities in Tokyo’s metropolitan area had reached agreements with 101 companies to accept evacuees by March 1.

The key part of measures for those who have difficulty returning home in an emergency was to have companies provide buildings and halls for them to stay.

An official at Tokyo’s Minato Ward has repeatedly appealed on a “corporate social responsibility” basis whenever he visits major companies in the ward seeking a cooperation agreement.

The official said he was told each time, “Can you take responsibility when something comes up?”

Bunkyo Ward officials thought of Tokyo Dome, an indoor stadium located in front of the ward office, as a possible shelter, thinking, “it could be ideal and a reliable facility with a roof.”

Officials believe the facility could accommodate almost half the expected “refugees.”

However, the operator of Tokyo Dome is cautious.

“Priority goes to the safety of spectators during a game,” an official said. “The number of staff members is limited. It would cause a mess if they could not deal with an emergency contingency.”

In Chiyoda Ward, where 570,000 people are expected to have difficulty returning home, officials selected 40 prospective places by a computer search. After visiting the 40 companies, the ward finally reached an agreement with two companies, which will be enough to accept 400 people.

Companies have their reasons for declining, and many on March 11 last year voluntarily provided food and places to stay for those who could not return home. But they said they have to be cautious about sharing the burden of responsibility if they sign an agreement.

An insurance and financial company in central Tokyo, which provided space at its headquarters a year ago, has yet to sign an agreement with the ward where it is located.

“Some do not agree with the idea of accepting outsiders in the company’s headquarters,” a spokesperson said.

Companies, on their part, are looking for ways to help those who cannot return home.

Mori Building Co., operator of the Roppongi Hills complex in Minato Ward, hopes to be a base for those people.

The company unveiled its storehouse that is used to stockpile supplies, located in the basement of the Hills building. About 5,000 people can stay in corridors inside the building, the company said.

Still, Mori officials admit it will be difficult if more than the expected number of people rush to stay in the building.

Only a few dozen employees have been appointed to deal with the people and specifics about agreements with medical facilities in the complex have yet to be decided.

“We have decided to announce what we are capable of offering now, if not perfect,” an official said.

Tokyo Disney Resort, a pair of theme parks operated by Oriental Land Co., in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, won high marks for providing shelter for many guests in its facilities on March 11 last year.

The company is revising its manual so it can improve service in the event of an emergency.

About 70,000 people were inside Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea parks when the earthquake struck on March 11. Of those, 20,000 were unable to return home.

Oriental Land provided about 20,000 umbrellas, blankets, food and drinks at no charge for those stranded at the parks.

The company’s current manual provides guidance for employees to provide assistance to up to 50,000 people who would stay in the parks for up to three days.

“There can be other ‘unexpected’ cases. We want to improve employees’ (security) awareness,” said Kiyotaka Hayakawa, Oriental Land's security management director.

(This article was compiled from reports by Jun Nakamura, Kaori Ozawa, Yoshitaka Unezawa and Noriyuki Shigemasa.)

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