Doha: October 2013 marked a momentous occasion for the fisheries industry in Onagawa as the Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah handed the ceremonial keys of a Qatar-funded $24m fishery processing plant to the local fish buyers association.
Designed to help rebuild the fishing sector in Onagawa, a small town on the Japanese east coast famous for its fishing industry which had been almost entirely devastated by the 3/11 tsunami, the plant was the first project in Japan to be completed as part of Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) in partnership with Nippon Foundation and has had tremendous results last year, culminating in the 2013 Good Design Award.
The award is the culmination of a journey for Maskar that has seen the famous Saury fishing industry making strides to return to its former glory.
Thanks to QFF, the multi-functional fishery-processing centre has created employment for more than 1,000 people and is expected to have a market value and spillover effect of over 65bn yen. Maskar encompasses sorting, refrigeration and storage facilities and is seen as the blueprint for future success.
Established in 1957, the Good Design Award is a comprehensive programme for the evaluation and encouragement of design, organised by Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP). It is based on the belief that good design can help break the cycle of poverty, and has been given to outstanding design for more than 50 years in the pursuit of more prosperous lives and industrial development.
With rigid screening of the 3,400 entries this year, the award takes into consideration factors, including usability and sustainability. A total of 794 companies and 1,212 designs were awarded in 2013, including 10 candidates for Good Design Grand Award, as well as candidates for the Good Design Best 100, the Good Design Gold Award and other Special Awards. Maskar includes sorting, refrigeration and storage facilities. The state-of-the-art facility sets global benchmarks by virtue of cutting edge tsunami-proof technology and design.
Its construction ensures the building is able to withstand Level 1 tsunami. The use of renewable energy through solar power generation means the centre is not only environmentally friendly but also highly economical in the long term.
Manabu Chiba, Judge for the Good Design Award, said: “The design of Maskar is simple yet powerful, the cross sectional construction will help ward off tsunamis and is very practical. The fact the fishery facility was built by the shore with the help of QFF is of great comfort to Onagawa.”
The message surrounding the project was recovery. Maskar can be seen from anywhere in Onagawa and will be considered a symbol of recovery by generations to come. Due to the timely completion and the impact it has had on the local community, Maskar can be considered the blueprint for future QFF initiatives.
The Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani announced QFF as a $100m gift to the Japanese people to assist relief efforts and accelerate the recovery of victims following the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami was responsible for widespread destruction of the east coast fishery industry. One of the fundamentals of QFF is to revive the fishery industry, one of the key economic drivers of the area. The Peninsula
