The huge amount of garbage generated in the event of a disaster hinders restoration work. Local governments must expedite efforts to establish a system that will enable them to promptly dispose of such waste.
Every time an earthquake or typhoon hits, local governments have struggled to deal with disaster waste. If it is left on the street, automobile and human traffic is obstructed. As furniture, home appliances, clothing and other goods are mixed together, the sanitary environment could deteriorate due to foul odors and bacteria. There is also a risk of fire.
Due to the torrential rain in the Kyushu region in July, local residents are having trouble disposing of a large amount of garbage. In the areas hit by Typhoon Nos. 15 and 19 last autumn, more than 2 million tons of waste were generated. It is said that it will take about two years to complete the disposal work from the time the garbage was generated.
In some cases, disaster-hit municipalities did not decide on temporary storage sites for the garbage in advance. It is undeniable that insufficient preparations led to a delay in the disposal of the waste.
In 2016, the central government asked municipalities across the country to draw up their plans to dispose of disaster-generated waste. The plans are aimed at facilitating garbage disposal work smoothly by selecting temporary storage sites in advance and establishing procedures for transportation, sorting and final disposal, among others.
However, only half of all municipalities have formulated such plans, and 90% of municipalities that have yet to work out their plans have a population of less than 100,000. It may be difficult for them to create their own plans due to a lack of specialist personnel.
In prefectures where damage from a massive earthquake in the Nankai Trough is expected, cities, towns and villages tend to draw up plans at a high rate. Prefectural governments, which have a low rate of drawing up such plans, need to heighten their sense of urgency. The central and prefectural governments should help them draw up their plans by dispatching officials or holding training sessions.
With climate change, typhoons and heavy rain disasters are becoming more severe and widespread. There is a limit to the disposal of huge amounts of garbage by the afflicted municipalities alone. It is also essential for prefectural and municipal governments to strengthen a wide-reaching cooperative framework, such as by expanding agreements to accept garbage.
Local governments that have already drawn up such plans need to review them as needed. When Typhoon No. 19 hit, there was a case in which the delivery of garbage into the temporary storage site was delayed because the details of the layout and other factors of the temporary storage site had not been discussed sufficiently, even if the plan had been made. It is hoped that the plans will be substantiated and revised to reflect the actual situation.
The Environment Ministry will soon compile a list of local government officials well versed in disaster response and dispatch them to disaster-hit areas. It aims to launch the system next spring.
It is important for dispatched officials to provide appropriate advice in line with the plans to ensure smooth garbage disposal.
In Kumamoto Prefecture, hit by the torrential rain in the Kyushu region, only residents of the prefecture were accepted as volunteers to prevent infections with the novel coronavirus, so there was a shortage of people to remove garbage from their houses. Each local government should consider how to secure personnel in advance.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on Aug. 20, 2020.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
