Earth and sand brought into Yahaba town-owned land without formal procedures; prefectural project requires oral permission only | Iwate Nippo IWATE NIPPO

It was revealed on the 26th that a large amount of soil from a prefectural project had been transported to two properties in Yahaba Town, Iwate Prefecture, without formal procedures being followed. The site is on the east side of Enzan Dam and the site of the former Mallet Golf Course, where a total of 10,500 cubic meters of wastewater from the construction work has piled up. The town and prefecture officials failed to prepare the necessary documents, and the prefecture did not pay the usage fee. The prefecture will pay the entire 35 million yen removal cost and restore the building to its original condition.

According to the town and prefecture, earth and sand were generated from 14 projects managed by the Morioka Regional Development Office between 2019 and 2023, including river improvement and road improvement and paving work. The area on the east side of the dam is 9,282 cubic meters, and the former golf course site is 1,240 cubic meters, which was discovered during a patrol of town-owned land in May 2023.

At the time, the town’s section chief and prefectural officials had been communicating verbally and via email, but the town had not officially given permission to use the building. The town manager in charge of the project, who had given verbal permission at the time, resigned in March 2023 after ordering another project without permission. The punishment of several town employees involved will be considered in the future. The prefecture will also consider disciplinary action against several employees.

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For the full article, please see the Iwate Nippo newspaper dated April 27th.