Ceremony to present letters of appreciation to those who cooperated in responding to the Numata Dam water supply pipe irrigation channel leak accident - With gratitude to the 18 companies that saved local farmers!

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

On Thursday, December 5th from 3:30pm, a ceremony to present letters of appreciation to those who cooperated in responding to the Numata Dam water supply pipe irrigation channel leak accident was held in Conference Room 1 on the second floor of the Hokuryu Town Joint Government Building.

Accident details (Source: Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly Member Mami Uemura Facebook, as of July 20th)

• On July 17th, a water supply leak occurred in the main irrigation channel constructed as part of a national project in Numata Town, Sorachi District, Hokkaido, resulting in a situation where water could not be supplied to 173 rice farms in Hokuryu Town and Numata Town, covering an area of approximately 1,750 hectares.
• The government (Development Agency) is currently investigating the cause and considering recovery methods.
• If the water supply is cut off for a long period of time, there are concerns that it will have a major impact on the growth of rice at rice farms. Therefore, the prefecture is checking the status of rice paddies with the national government and related organizations and groups, and the Agricultural Improvement and Extension Center is taking the lead in providing farming guidance.
• Quote: Mami Uemura, Hokkaido Prefectural Assembly MemberFrom a Facebook post dated July 20, 2024

　
We will present letters of appreciation to the 18 organizations and companies that carried out the necessary emergency work and water supply activities during the accident and contributed to preventing the damage from spreading through their rapid response.

Certificate of Appreciation Presentation Ceremony

General moderator: Junichi Iguchi, Industry Division, Counselor

We will now begin the Ceremony to Present Letters of Appreciation to Those Who Helped Response to the Numata Dam Water Pipe Leakage Accident.

We would like to express our deepest respect for the emergency work and water supply activities you carried out in response to this accident, and for extending a helping hand to local farmers, and we would like to present you with a letter of appreciation.

The letter of appreciation is signed jointly by the mayor of Hokuryu and the chairman of the Hokuryu Land Improvement District."

Certificates of appreciation presented to 18 companies

Hifumi Kitaji Co., Ltd., MZ Harada Co., Ltd., Soushin Construction Co., Ltd., Uemura Construction Co., Ltd., Hokkai Civil Engineering Co., Ltd., Kobushi Construction Co., Ltd., Kyokuto Construction Co., Ltd., Nakamoto Construction Co., Ltd., Sakurai Senda Co., Ltd., Nakayamagumi Co., Ltd., Miyasaka Construction Industry Co., Ltd., Fujioka Tsumagami Co., Ltd., Hokko Construction Co., Ltd., Kitasou Co., Ltd., Kanayama Wakabayashi Co., Ltd., Taira Construction Co., Ltd., Shiomi Construction Co., Ltd., Daiwa Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Greetings from Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki

"Thank you for coming to Hokuryu Town.

The town is small, but it has a vast area of farmland. Unfortunately, an accident occurred there. I think it was due to aging.

Thank you so much for rushing to help with the water supply activities right away. We are extremely grateful for your efforts. The farmers were truly pleased.

This year, damage was caused by a leak from the dam's water pipe, but last year, during the opening ceremony for the Sunflower Festival, a similar leak occurred in the Mibaushi area, causing even greater damage and making this the second consecutive year of an accident. Whatever the exact cause, I believe that the aging of the facility is a major factor.

The national government is making thorough preparations using a variety of measures, and I believe that measures will be included in the supplementary budget or in the main budget in April.

Currently, agricultural civil engineering is not being highly rated. The agricultural budget, which was about 1.3 trillion yen in the past, has been cut. As a result, we no longer have the resources to respond to disasters. And now, it has not returned to 1.3 trillion yen. It is stuck at around 900 billion yen. It is still not enough.

Today, we have in attendance 17 companies (one company is absent) who are engaged in agricultural civil engineering. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your hard work and dedication to the work of farmers.

Above all, the people who are most grateful are the farmers. About half of Hokuryu Town, half of it last year and half of it this year, were on the verge of major damage. Thank you so much for your steady water supply and emergency response efforts during that time. We are very grateful.

I became mayor in February. Until then, I had been working hard on site, just like you, to ensure that civil engineering work was carried out.

Although my position will change, I have been given the role of supporting everyone's support from now on, so I would like to carry out my duties diligently.

The Sorachi Construction Industry Association is celebrating its 75th anniversary and has published a commemorative magazine. The first page features a sunflower field in Hokuryu Town. While everyone has of course worked hard to make this happen, the Sorachi Construction Industry Association has also been handling various administrative tasks. Although the administrative staff are not here today, I would like to express my gratitude to them as well.

I would love to meet you all, but I don't think we'll ever meet in this format again. I hope to see you all working diligently and with a bright smile on your face.

Thank you so much for supporting our small town.
I would like to express my gratitude. Thank you very much."

Commemorative photo

With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the companies that cooperated and united in their efforts to respond swiftly to this unforeseen accident, contributed to preventing the damage from spreading, and saved the lives of local farmers.

Other photos

Click here for 81 photos of the ceremony to present letters of appreciation to the companies that cooperated in responding to the Numata Dam water supply pipe leak accident.

◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)