Photo/Illutration Environment Minister Shintaro Ito, right, receives a written request from Minamata disease patients in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, on May. 8. (Soichiro Yamamoto)

Environment Minister Shintaro Ito apologized directly to representatives of a group of Minamata disease patients on May 8 for ministry staff cutting off their microphones during a discussion to collect their input.

Ito traveled to Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, where he met Yoshihiro Yamashita, an acting chair of the liaison association of Minamata disease patients and supporters.

He directly apologized to those who were interrupted while speaking.

"I deeply regret what occurred," Ito said. 

Earlier in the day, Ito reiterated to reporters that he did not know whether the ministry staff intentionally turned off the microphones at the May 1 meeting in Minamata.

But Ito said he received a report about it on May 7. He then instructed to have a representative who heads the ministry’s special disease control measures meet the group and apologize.

As of May 7, the ministry said it had not yet decided if the minister would issue his own apology.

But his schedule was later rearranged and Ito said he has decided to accompany the representative.

Ito said he would meet the two people who were cut off in the middle of their comments.

“I will listen to what they were not able to finish,” Ito said.

Regarding the appropriateness of setting the speaking time per organization at three minutes, Ito said, “It is not a long time. The operation should be improved.”

The ministry has arranged a meeting for the minister to listen to the voices of Minamata disease patients after an annual memorial ceremony for those who died from the disease, which was caused by industrial wastewater containing methylmercury discharged into the sea off Minamata. 

At the May 1 meeting in which eight groups participated, they were told to limit each of their speakers to three minutes.

When a speaker went over the time limit, a ministry staffer who served as a moderator urged the person to wrap it up. The staff turned off the microphone twice.

According to people related to the matter, the time limit for each group to speak has been in place for some time, but they were not restricted from continuing previously even when a speaker exceeded the allotted time.

On May 7, a liaison association of Minamata disease patients and supporters, consisting of patients’ groups and others, sent a written request to the ministry, demanding an apology from Ito and another opportunity to exchange opinions.

The letter criticized the ministry’s attitude as “an unforgivable outrage that tramples on the wishes and thoughts of the victims and silences the speech of the victims who continue to suffer.”

The letter said, “It is necessary to have a forum for a frank exchange of opinions with victims and their groups over a sufficient amount of time” for the ministry to implement measures to resolve the problem.

The association held a news conference in Minamata on May 8.

Yoshihiro Yamashita, an acting chair of the association, criticized the ministry.

“The patients’ stories should be heard on site and utilized by the government," he said. "It was an action that goes against that.”

Yamashita added, “The minister is also responsible for failing to stop the problem.”

(This article was written by Kai Ichino and Kenji Imamura.)

Related News