Farm minister Ota steps down
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN – http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200809200050.html
Farm minister Seiichi Ota on Friday resigned to take responsibility for the tons of contaminated rice illicitly diverted for use in food served at restaurants, hospitals, stores and other places.
Ota only took over his portfolio in August this year, after Takehiko Endo stepped down as agriculture minister over a scandal involving ministry subsidies illicitly gained by an agricultural organization previously headed by Endo. Get the picture?
“As the tainted rice became a big social problem, I decided to take responsibility,” Ota said in a news conference held after a Cabinet meeting. “I thought that it was time (to resign) since measures to prevent a recurrence have been mostly worked out.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, who will concurrently serve as the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told reporters Friday that Ota conveyed his intention to resign to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Vice agriculture minister Toshiro Shirasu also resigned Friday to take responsibility for the ministry’s inspections at a factory of rice wholesaler Mikasa Foods Co. that failed to detect the diversion of the rice contaminated with pesticides and mold.
It is extremely rare for a minister and a vice minister, the top bureaucrat, to resign simultaneously.
Ota would have to leave anyway when the Fukuda government resigns en masse Wednesday. Fukuda announced his resignation earlier this month, before the rice scandal surfaced.
Ota and Shirasu have apparently been under pressure from the prime minister’s office as the extent of the spread of the contaminated rice, which was meant for industrial use, became clearer.
In addition, a former ministry official was found to have been wined and dined by Mikasa Foods when he was in a supervisory position over the company.
In a news conference Sept. 11, Shirasu said: “Primary responsibility lies with the companies that diverted (tainted) rice for food use. At this stage, I do not think that we are responsible.”
On Sept. 12, Ota said on a televised program: “I can say with confidence that the contaminated rice has not had a negative influence on human health. That’s the reason (the ministry) is not making much fuss about it.”
The comments sparked sharp criticism from both ruling and opposition parties.
“If they continue to make such remarks, the people will not stand for it,” Yukio Hatoyama, secretary-general of opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), had earlier said. “They should resign immediately or the prime minister should fire them.”
The prime minister’s office apparently thought that drastic measures were needed to stem the fallout ahead of the Lower House election expected next month.
Machimura said the government will get to the bottom of the issue of who was responsible for diverting the tainted rice for human consumption.
“As a result (of the diversion), the rice entered the mouths of many people,” he said. “We are reflecting on the fact that the diversion caused public anxiety over food. We have not yet clarified the entire picture of the scandal.”
Earlier Friday, Ota said that Forestry Agency Director-General Michio Ide, 58, would succeed Shirasu.
Shirasu took over the vice minister’s post in September last year following the resignation of Yoshio Kobayashi.
Kobayashi resigned only a few days after Takehiko Endo stepped down as agriculture minister over a scandal involving ministry subsidies illicitly gained by an agricultural organization once headed by Endo. (IHT/Asahi: September 20,2008) - Copyright the authors or the respective news agency.
Tainted rice was used in 102,000 rice balls, said Asahi Shimbun. On April 16, 4,528 students and 726 teachers at 47 public junior high schools ate sekihan red bean rice containing the bad rice.
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