14. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017. DAILY NATION.

FOCUS
DISASTERMITIGATIONWORKSHOP

ISLANDS like thisone in the bay
off Matsushimaisland prevented
the tsunami in 2011
from inundating
the land with water.
(Pictures by Wakaphotos.)

The Association for Promotion ofInternational Cooperation (APIC)
and the Foreign Press Centre ofJapan have come together once
again to give regional journalists
insight into how the country goes
about mitigating the effectsof natural disasters.
Japan, a country known inrecent times for earthquakes andtsunamis, has spent hundredsof millions of dollars on special
technology and building methods
to protect its citizenry.
This year, APIC has invited six
journalists from the Caribbean
and Pacific region to get afirst-hand look at those methods.
Associate Editor Barry Alleyne isrepresenting THE NATION.

Town fights backby BARRY ALLEYNE in Higashimatsushima, JapanTHE HAMLET of Higashimatushima could probably
be the world’s most safe island township.

Wrecked by two massive earthquakes and an equallydestructive tsunami in the space of 14 years, way above

the planet’s susceptibility average, the town of 43 000inhabitants now has in place a series of protective
measures in an effort to avoid another “town-lashing”,
so to speak.
In 2003, scores of houses and important buildings
were damaged during an earthquake, but for residents

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Continued on next page.

DAILY NATION. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017. 15

FOCUSSystems
shield aftertragedies
MAYOR IWAOATSUMI wants
his city to behouses, hospitals and train stations, changing
the safest
their lives forever.
in eastern
The memories remain, but Higashimatsushima
Japan.
has made sure there will be no repeat.
From Page 14.

In a unique combination of support fromnational government and an extremely reliablecommunity emergency management system,
the city has been able to protect itself like noother eastern village in the country.
Firstly, government banned residential housing
in the city’s coastal areas, proving residents firstwith temporary housing, then building a newvillage with taxpayers’ money further inland.
A special 20-foot seawall has been constructed,
and is specially designed to absorb a tsunami on
its way into the town for the first time, and also
as water recedes, which tends to happen in suchcircumstances. A second wall was built about
1.5 kilometres further inland, with special
diversion canals to feed the water back out to sea.
The city also constructed seven solar-powered
surveillance cameras along the seaside whichallow meteorologists to see incoming tsunamis
and guide residents to even higher ground, basedon the water phenomenon.
The tragedy in 2011 had also transformed
Higashimatsushima into one of Japan’s strongest
communities, especially when it comesto disaster management.
Special committees meet continuously, and about
three disaster emergency drills for all residents
are held annually.

Community spirit
After the tsunami, Japan’s central government
provided 95 per cent of the finance needed
to rebuild the town, but way more had to bedone before that was possible.
And it was all left up to the community.
More than 1 000 townsfolk, without a job, homeor way to make money, immediately volunteered
to help clear the thousands of tonnes of debris
left behind by both earthquake and tsunami.
Mayor of the city, Iwao Atsumi, couldn’t beprouder of the work done and the community
spirit which inspired it.
“We knew we could not have had the resources as asmall town to do it all ourselves, especially after such alarge tragedy, but the residents were very collaborative.
They loved their community, and though they weretraumatised for a few days, they eventually regained
their emotions and helped build back their city,”a blushing Atsumi told a group of reporters who cameto the town for special viewing of the new initiatives,in addition to a number of historic sites related to theearthquake, which was the fourth largest ever recorded.
“It was the residents playing an assertive role whichallowed the reconstruction to move at a good pace,”
the mayor said.
Though it started out as volunteer work, every
resident in Higashimatsushima was eventually paid
for the painstaking work, which involved separating
all debris and preparing it for recycling.
To purchase an incinerator from a private company
would have cost the municipality 7 billion yen(BDS$125 million), but instead decided to spendthat money paying its own citizens.
“That allowed the people to make money forthemselves which restarted business, and saved
the economy,” Atsumi asserted.
To handle the hundreds of thousands of tonnesof debris, three baseball-sized collection yards
were created at different points in the city.

HIGASHIMATSUSHIMA mayor Iwao Atsumi showing where in his city alarge field was created for the purpose of collecting recyclable material.