TOKYO: A Japanese town that was evacuated after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has decided to remove street signs trumpeting the benefits of atomic power, an official said Tuesday.

Deserted Futaba town, which plays host to the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, is set to earmark cash to remove huge signboards erected in 1988 and 1991, a town official told AFP.

“Nuclear power: The energy for a bright future,” says one sign written in the style of a haiku poem at the entrance to the town.

“Nuclear power: For development of our homeland, a prosperous future,” reads the other.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meanwhile on Tuesday vowed to draw up a new-five year plan to speed rebuilding from a massive 2011 tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl that have left thousands still homeless.

Abe spoke ahead of the fourth anniversary of the devastating March 11 earthquake, which set off a massive tsunami that ravaged the Pacific coastline, killing nearly 20,000 and causing explosions and meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Futaba’s 6,300 residents were ordered to flee their homes in the days after reactors began melting down at Fukushima when an enormous tsunami swamped their cooling systems.

They are still unable to return because of fears over elevated levels of radiation that leaked from the plant, and many remain in poorly-constructed temporary homes.

“We’ve decided to remove them because they have become decrepit and are risky for people who make temporary returns to their houses,” the Futaba official said, adding the town was planning to set aside 4.1 million yen ($34,000) for the work. Almost 19,000 people lost their lives when the tsunami of March 11, 2011 swept ashore.

Thousands of buildings were destroyed and tens of thousands of people were made homeless.

The nuclear accident at Fukushima is not officially recorded as having directly killed anyone, although 90,000 people remain displaced because of the no-go zone around the plant.

Scientists warn that it may be many years until it is safe to return and say that some areas may have to be abandoned forever.

Campaign groups say unemployment is high and levels of depression and other illness are far above normal in displaced communities.

Much remains to be done, with many towns struggling to provide jobs and permanent housing for thousands of residents, Abe told a news conference, adding that the government would prepare a new five-year reconstruction plan by this summer.

“We in the Abe government will provide all the support needed for the people in the devastated areas, who are working so hard to rebuild their lives and move ahead,” Abe said.

“The current intensive five-year reconstruction plan expires next March, but we will draw up another for the next five years by this summer,” he added.

He declined to give any details of the budget, apart from saying it would be decided in talks with local governments. It is estimated that the government has paid out as much as $50 billion to the three regions hardest hit by the disaster.

Abe added that the government would continue to spearhead efforts in dealing with contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima plant, as well as its decommission.

Since the 9.0 magnitude quake, Japan has allocated more than $15 billion to an unprecedented project to lower radiation in towns near the plant, with irradiated trash piling up in 88,000 temporary storage facilities nearby.

Tokyo plans to build a more permanent storage facility in several towns abandoned due to the accident, despite opposition from some residents, a decision Abe alluded to by thanking those in agreement with the plan.

“We in the government will continue to do everything possible to deal with the issue of irradiated water as well as decommissioning the plant,” he said.

“It may only be by slow steps, but reconstruction is definitely moving into a new stage.”