Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have one item to report, regarding the lifting of shipping restrictions. Today the Government issued instructions to the governor of Fukushima Prefecture to lift shipping restrictions on flower-bud type vegetables of the Brassicaceae family, including broccoli, produced in the Soso and northern regions of Fukushima Prefecture. For further details please direct your questions to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).

Q&As

REPORTER: With regard to the supplementary budget, the leaders of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) have been making various statements concerning the scale of the budget and the sources of funding for it. What is the status at the current point?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As for the scale of the second supplementary budget, the Ministry of Finance is currently in the process of collecting budgetary requests with urgent needs from the various ministries and agencies concerned, based on the instructions of the Prime Minister. It is still too early to say at this stage just what the total amount in the supplementary budget will be. With regard to the sources of funding, the Government is looking to compile the budget without recourse to reconstruction bonds or resources for the redemption of such bonds, which are currently being deliberated by the Reconstruction Design Council.

REPORTER: On a related note, a figure of 2 trillion yen has been mentioned by party leaders, and the account surplus has been mentioned as a source of funding. Is that the basic direction the Government's deliberations are heading?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The current status is that the competent financial authorities are in the process of examining in detail just what sources of funding can be procured without resorting to the account surplus or reconstruction bonds, for example. The necessity for such options is currently being examined and deliberations are being finalized, so I believe that comments from party leaders refer to their own forecasts or outlooks.

REPORTER: With regard to soil contamination, a number of experts have pointed out that now that the rainy season has arrived there is a possibility that due to heavy rain or typhoons, any radioactive materials that have fallen on topsoil could seep further underground. Although work to remove topsoil from schoolyards is already underway, there are some comments that decontamination operations for other locations, such as rice paddies and fields in agricultural regions will have to be implemented urgently. Does the Government intend to expedite work to decontaminate rice paddies and fields?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Of course, while there is no mistaking that it would be preferable, if possible, to engage in soil replacement operations in various locations, similar to the operations that are being implemented for schoolyards, it is necessary to consider realistically just to what extent it would be physically possible to implement such operations. Various experts have various opinions, and with regard to radioactive cesium, the Government has received a report based on experiences at Chernobyl, which states that cesium tends to adhere to minerals in the topsoil and does not have a strong tendency to seep further into the ground together with rainfall. Of course, we must ensure that large volumes of radioactive cesium do not enter groundwater. We will continue to implement thorough monitoring activities, and decontamination operations will continue in a prioritized order, starting with schools, where it is necessary to protect the health of children. Frankly, it is regrettably not physically possible to immediately implement soil decontamination measures for all large tracts of arable land or other affected places.

(Abridged)