ID :
109264
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 00:17
Auther :

Japan to provide $3 mil. in emergency aid to quake-struck Chile

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TOKYO, March 1 Kyodo -
Japan decided Monday to provide up to $3 million in emergency grant aid to
Chile to help the country cope with the massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake there,
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said.
Tokyo will also provide supplies worth up to 30 million yen, such as makeshift
tents, water purifiers and power generators, which are stockpiled in Miami,
Florida, by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, he said at a news
conference.
A three-member medical team consisting of a Foreign Ministry official, a doctor
and a JICA staff member is on its way to the South American country from Japan,
the Foreign Ministry said.
The team may eventually have about 20 members, but the government will decide
on its size after receiving reports from a fact-finding mission in the
quake-hit area, the top government spokesman said.
The Defense Ministry will also send three people, including Ground Self-Defense
Force personnel, to Chile between Monday and Tuesday to study the need for the
dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces.
The measures will be taken in response to a formal request from Chilean
President Michelle Bachelet for international assistance on Monday given that
at least 708 people have died and more than 2 million people have been affected
in the disaster, Hirano said.
''The Foreign Ministry has just decided to send an emergency medical team, and
it'll be the first step,'' Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters earlier
in the day.
He said Japan will quickly think about what it can do to help Chile's
reconstruction.
''Japan will play the roles it should play in reconstruction efforts in the
second and third steps,'' he said, adding that the fact-finding mission sent to
the affected area will assess the need for Japanese assistance.
Of the 33 Japanese nationals in the central Chilean city of Concepcion, located
near the epicenter of Saturday's quake, 26 have been confirmed to be safe, the
Foreign Ministry said, adding it is trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the
remaining seven.
Commenting on the tsunami waves that hit the Japanese coast in the wake of the
earthquake, Hatoyama said there were no casualties due to the efforts of the
central and local governments to alert and evacuate people.
''I believe we were able to act swiftly with regard to the tsunami,'' he said,
adding the government still needs to assess the damage the waves did to the
fisheries industry.
Meanwhile, Hirano acknowledged that despite the warnings and recommendations
for evacuation, many people may have stayed home, saying at a news conference,
''It's regrettable.''
''We failed to have the whole population understand the danger of tsunami,'' he
said. ''We will adequately examine the work of local governments as a future
issue.''
Japan observed tsunami waves on Sunday afternoon in wide areas along its
Pacific coast, with the highest wave of 1.45 meters recorded at a port in Iwate
Prefecture.
==Kyodo
2010-03-01 23:32:19

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