ID :
170993
Sat, 03/26/2011 - 19:41
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/170993
The shortlink copeid
Hard to tell when Japan's nuclear crisis would end: Edano
TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo - Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said Saturday he finds it difficult to predict when the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant would end.
In an attempt to enhance the government's capacity to address the nuclear problems since the March 11 killer earthquake and tsunami, the chief Cabinet secretary said Sumio Mabuchi, a former minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, has become Prime Minister Naoto Kan's special adviser.
Mabuchi, who replaced Manabu Terata, was appointed to mainly be in charge of dealing with the nuclear crisis for the time being in cooperation with the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., Edano said at a news conference.
Asked about the prospects of the crisis, Edano said, ''The current situation is that we are preventing it from worsening.'' He said the situation still requires ''an enormous amount of work'' before it settles down.
''The work is very significant for Japan's future. I will push myself to the max,'' Mabuchi told reporters at the premier's office after taking the new post. ''The whole world is closely watching'' the crisis.
Mabuchi was a member of Kan's Cabinet until mid-January. Along with then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, Mabuchi came under pressure to leave the government after the opposition-controlled upper chamber passed a censure motion over his handling of the ship collisions last year involving a Chinese fishing boat near the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing.
Earlier this month, Kan appointed Sengoku as deputy chief Cabinet secretary to beef up post-quake relief and reconstruction efforts.
Kan's recruitment of Mabuchi back into the government could anger opposition lawmakers, given that his and Sengoku's departures from the Cabinet were some of the main conditions for them to engage in deliberations in the 150-day ordinary Diet session, which started on Jan. 24.
Edano said he acknowledges that there may be some criticisms of the two appointments, but strengthening the government's clout to cope with the emergency situation ''takes precedence over all other matters.''
In an attempt to enhance the government's capacity to address the nuclear problems since the March 11 killer earthquake and tsunami, the chief Cabinet secretary said Sumio Mabuchi, a former minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, has become Prime Minister Naoto Kan's special adviser.
Mabuchi, who replaced Manabu Terata, was appointed to mainly be in charge of dealing with the nuclear crisis for the time being in cooperation with the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., Edano said at a news conference.
Asked about the prospects of the crisis, Edano said, ''The current situation is that we are preventing it from worsening.'' He said the situation still requires ''an enormous amount of work'' before it settles down.
''The work is very significant for Japan's future. I will push myself to the max,'' Mabuchi told reporters at the premier's office after taking the new post. ''The whole world is closely watching'' the crisis.
Mabuchi was a member of Kan's Cabinet until mid-January. Along with then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, Mabuchi came under pressure to leave the government after the opposition-controlled upper chamber passed a censure motion over his handling of the ship collisions last year involving a Chinese fishing boat near the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by Beijing.
Earlier this month, Kan appointed Sengoku as deputy chief Cabinet secretary to beef up post-quake relief and reconstruction efforts.
Kan's recruitment of Mabuchi back into the government could anger opposition lawmakers, given that his and Sengoku's departures from the Cabinet were some of the main conditions for them to engage in deliberations in the 150-day ordinary Diet session, which started on Jan. 24.
Edano said he acknowledges that there may be some criticisms of the two appointments, but strengthening the government's clout to cope with the emergency situation ''takes precedence over all other matters.''
