43 people, including town employees, died in the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred 13 years ago, and the bereaved families and residents were divided over whether to preserve or demolish the ``former disaster prevention government building'' in Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture. , Mayor Hitoshi Sato announced his intention to preserve the site as an earthquake disaster site and make it the property of the town.
At Minamisanriku Town's disaster prevention government building, 43 people, including town employees, died in the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011.
Opinions were divided between the bereaved families and residents as to whether to preserve or demolish the government building, so ownership was transferred from the town to the prefecture in 2015, and the prefecture will maintain and manage it until 2031, 20 years after the earthquake. I was supposed to.
However, Mayor Hitoshi Sato of Minamisanriku Town said at a press conference on the 1st, ``In order to reliably convey the facts and history of the disaster, it is necessary for the town to maintain and manage it. "We're running out of space," he said, announcing his plan to turn the government building into town-owned property and preserve it as an earthquake disaster relic.
The prefecture will receive the money back at the end of June this year, and this policy has been communicated to some of the bereaved families.
Mayor Sato said, ``What to do about this problem has been at the forefront of my mind for 13 years.It has been accepted by the town's residents, and many people have come here for disaster prevention education, so it was difficult to imagine that there would be no government building in this location.'' "I can't do that. Ultimately, I thought it should be settled through a political decision."