NHK - Japan To Help US, Canada Dispose Of Tsunami Debris
Published on Sep 8, 2012 by NHKReloaded
NHK World News ---- Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai
Description -- Japan has decided to offer 6 million dollars in total to the US and Canadian governments to help dispose of debris from the tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11th last year.
About 1.5 million tons of wreckage is believed to have been washed into the Pacific Ocean after the tsunami, and some of it has already reached the Pacific coast of North America.
It is estimated that more marine debris will wash ashore the Pacific coastline starting from October.
The Japanese government had been considering ways to cover a share of the costs of disposal as a way to return the support the US and Canada provided for victims of last year's disaster in Japan.
But there are no international rules stipulating how countries should share the costs of disposing of marine debris whose origins are difficult to identify.
The US and Canadian governments initially said that it would be difficult to accept financial assistance from Japan.
The Japanese government eventually decided to provide the 2 countries with 6 million dollars as goodwill sympathy money to help dispose of the debris.
It is expected that 1 million dollars each will be allocated to 5 US states, including Alaska and Washington, and the Canadian state of British Columbia.
Sep. 7, 2012 - Updated 17:31 UTC (02:31 JST)
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