Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara |
A former Tokyo deputy governor said Sunday that Tokyo Gas Co.
suggested backdoor negotiations on the sale of contaminated land for a
new Tokyo fish market.
The remark by Takeo Hamauzu, 69,
contradicts the Tokyo government's official records that state Hamauzu
in October 2000 sounded out Tokyo Gas, the owner of the land at the
time, about holding secret talks on the sale.
The
Tokyo government's main negotiator for the purchase of land to replace
the aging Tsukiji fish market told a powerful committee of the Tokyo
metropolitan assembly looking into the controversial relocation plan
that the gas company had used the term "behind closed doors."
Among
several potential relocation sites, the city government selected the
land in the Toyosu waterfront area that was formerly used as a gas
production site, reaching a basic agreement on the relocation plan in
July 2001.
However, Yuriko Koike, upon becoming Tokyo governor
last August, decided to postpone the planned November 2016 relocation of
the market, which also deals in fruit and vegetables, amid lingering
concerns about soil and air pollution at the new site.
Tokyo Gas
was initially reluctant to sell the land to the Tokyo government as it
thought the former gas production site would not be appropriate for a
market. But according to the government records, Hamauzu approached the
company and began secret talks on the land deal.
Hamauzu, close
aide of then-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, told the committee that as
the gas company was originally considering using the land for a
different development project, he thought the company wanted to discuss
the land sale to the Tokyo government quietly as an abrupt change in the
plan for the use of the Toyosu site could cause disruption.
"Since
negotiations usually do not go well without taking into account a
partner's demand, I said, 'We are fine to talk about it behind closed
doors,'" Hamauzu told the committee.
Ishihara will appear before the committee Monday.
The
metropolitan government said the same day benzene at up to 100 times
the government-set safety limit had been detected in groundwater samples
taken at the Toyosu site, higher than the benzene level of 79 times the
allowable limit from Tokyo's ninth test results announced in January.
A former
Tokyo deputy governor said Sunday that Tokyo Gas Co. suggested backdoor
negotiations on the sale of contaminated land for a new Tokyo fish
market.
The remark by Takeo Hamauzu, 69, contradicts the Tokyo government's
official records that state Hamauzu in October 2000 sounded out Tokyo
Gas, the owner of the land at the time, about holding secret talks on
the sale.
The Tokyo government's main negotiator for the purchase of land to
replace the aging Tsukiji fish market told a powerful committee of the
Tokyo metropolitan assembly looking into the controversial relocation
plan that the gas company had used the term "behind closed doors."
Among several potential relocation sites, the city government
selected the land in the Toyosu waterfront area that was formerly used
as a gas production site, reaching a basic agreement on the relocation
plan in July 2001.
However, Yuriko Koike, upon becoming Tokyo governor last August,
decided to postpone the planned November 2016 relocation of the market,
which also deals in fruit and vegetables, amid lingering concerns about
soil and air pollution at the new site.
Tokyo Gas was initially reluctant to sell the land to the Tokyo
government as it thought the former gas production site would not be
appropriate for a market. But according to the government records,
Hamauzu approached the company and began secret talks on the land deal.
Hamauzu, close aide of then-Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, told the
committee that as the gas company was originally considering using the
land for a different development project, he thought the company wanted
to discuss the land sale to the Tokyo government quietly as an abrupt
change in the plan for the use of the Toyosu site could cause
disruption.
"Since negotiations usually do not go well without taking into
account a partner's demand, I said, 'We are fine to talk about it behind
closed doors,'" Hamauzu told the committee.
Ishihara will appear before the committee Monday.
The metropolitan government said the same day benzene at up to 100
times the government-set safety limit had been detected in groundwater
samples taken at the Toyosu site, higher than the benzene level of 79
times the allowable limit from Tokyo's ninth test results announced in
January.
Kohei Urano, emeritus professor at Yokohama National University,
said while benzene at 79 times or even 100 times the safety limit would
pose little danger to health unless the groundwater was used at the
market or to drink, it might still arouse public concern about food
handling at the market.
ニュースサイトで読む: http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170319/p2g/00m/0dm/105000c#csidxf97e61e34c06ad6aaa32833cd94a8a0
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