On
Japan Quake,
UN Rep Says
Fukushima
Disclosures
Fragmented,
Evcuation
Radius for
Experts Only?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 5 -- For
the one year
anniversary of
the earthquake
in
Japan, the UN
showed
photographs,
held a concert
and a press
conference by
Margareta
Wahlstrom,
Special
Representative
of
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
for Disaster
Risk
Reduction.
Inner
City Press
asked about
the Fukushima
nuclear plant
and whether
Japan's
evacuation
radius --
which started
at 20
kilometer then
belated move
to fifty
kilometer --
was enough, or
if 75
kilometers
would be
better. Video
here, from
Minute 21:51.
Wahlstrom
was
willing to
analyze
Japan's
"preparedness"
but not what
it
actually did,
arguing that
"in hindsight
you cannot
say,
certainly
certainly not
non-experts
like
ourselves."
Who
the UN's
expert is and
what they'd
say is not
clear.
Wahlstrom to
her credit
said that "One
of the
challenges for
the Japanese
was that the
people who
managed the
crisis were
not
particularly
well informed
about the
consequences
of what
happened in
Fukushimi."
She
mentioned
petrochemicals
and Bhopal,
then asked,
"how do you
inform the
public about
something like
this if you
don't feel you
have enough
info yourself?
What is the
balance of
saying nothing
or saying a
little bit?"
How
and what,
indeed. Watch
this site.
Outgoing
DPI chief
Akasaka open
photo exhibit
(c) MRLee
Footnote:
even before
the evening's
photo
exhibition and
concert at the
UN, Japan's
Permanent
Representative
Tsuneo Nishida
told Inner
City Press his
Mission is
working on a
General
Assembly
resolution on
women and
disasters.
We'll have
more on this.
Ban
Ki-moon with
back to
Akasaka, Del
"no answers"
Buey at right
(c) MRLee
, 
