Kanamoto responds to disaster in Japan

Japanese rental giant Kanamoto established a disaster task force on the day of the earthquake and tsunami and like its competitors is doing its best to help in the recovery efforts. All its staff in the affected areas are "alive and safe".

Kanamoto said the task force, which is being led by Manabu Nagasaki, director of Kanamoto's construction equipment rental division, "has created teams to supply construction equipment needed to respond to the disaster, including construction machinery, generators, lighting equipment, modular housing units for temporary use and toilet facilities.

The company said it was supplying equipment based on established disaster response agreements it has with local government "and is working to supply equipment and other items in response to requests from government offices, electric power companies and telecommunications firms, public entities such as hospitals, and customers and suppliers."

Kanamoto is transferring construction equipment from throughout Japan to the affected area.

The region struck by the disaster is one of Kanamoto's main markets, and two of its depots were directly affected by the tsunami - Ofunato branch (Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture) and the Sendai Branch (Miyagino-ku, Sendai City).

In addition, a depot close to the stricken nuclear power station at Fukushima has been closed and personnel evacuated.

However, Kanamoto said that it had been able to establish that all of its employees in the affected areas are "alive and safe" and that damage to its sales offices has been limited. The company does not yet know the extent of the damage to the equipment that was out on rent at the time of the tsunami.

Kanamoto said it was using its experience from the Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995, and added; "the entire Kanamoto Group is united in its desire to execute the emergency response needed and the activities to contribute sufficiently to future restoration works."

The company expressed its "sincere condolences to all of the victims of the Tohoku Pacific Offshore Earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, 2011."

See the link on the right for news on how rental company Nikken has responded to the disaster.