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The Japanese government Friday ordered the embattled operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to offer payouts to tens of thousands of people made homeless by the ongoing crisis. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said it would give an initial 1 million yen ($12,000) to each family living around the radiation-leaking Fukushima Daiichi power station."We have decided to offer necessary payment as provisional compensation so that we can provide as much support as possible," Masataka Shimizu, president of TEPCO, told a news conference. Tens of thousands of people living in a 20-kilometers zone around the plant were ordered to leave due to radiation fears, and people within 30 kilometers were first told to stay indoors and later encouraged to also evacuate. "We will pay the provisional payment to families who lived in areas where people were ordered to evacuate or stay inside their houses," Shimizu said. Japan's economy suffered a big blow in the triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, but the country should have no problem financing reconstruction, Japan's central bank chief said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the three-pronged disaster struck "at a time when Japan's economy was gradually returning" to strength. He said the disruption means "it is inevitable" that production and supply will suffer. Meanwhile, Tokyo Disneyland threw open its doors again Friday, bringing some welcome relief to thousands of disaster-weary families. Agencies |
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