Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has urged Tokyo Electric Power Co. not to sell the land it owns in Oze National Park to help pay compensation for the nuclear crisis before exhausting other assets or cutting costs.
His remark, made Wednesday, followed a media report that Tepco may sell the property to acquire cash as several organizations, including a fishing cooperative in Ibaraki Prefecture, demand payment for damages caused by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power complex.
With concerns growing about how the park would fare under different ownership, Edano suggested the utility cut pensions and retirement pay first.