Just a way "to ensure fairness" of treatment

May 12, 2015

New 3.11 disaster recovery plan requires local bodies to bear part of financial burden

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150512p2a00m0na015000c.html

The Reconstruction Agency has announced a basic policy of restoring areas devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis that would require local governments to shoulder part of the costs.

After consulting with the local bodies in disaster-hit areas, the agency will officially approve the plan at a meeting of its Reconstruction Promotion Council in late June, officials said on May 12.

Reconstruction Minister Wataru Takeshita told a news conference that the agency "tried to ensure fairness" between the restoration of areas hit by the March 2011 disasters and those affected by other disasters.

Under the current basic policy of reconstruction that was worked out in 2011 under the previous administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the government designates the period up to fiscal 2020 as the reconstruction period during which the state will extend much financial assistance for such efforts.

The new government policy would regard a five-year period from fiscal 2016 as a "period for reconstruction and recreation" of disaster areas. The plan would then classify restoration projects into three categories -- fully central government-funded projects, projects that local governments would be required to partially fund and projects financed jointly by national and local governments like projects undertaken by local bodies unaffected by the disasters.

Projects fully funded by the national government are limited to core restoration projects as well as countermeasures against the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The construction of new coastal levees, the construction and improvement of ports and harbors as well as roads leading to coastal areas that contribute to local vitalization and future disaster preparedness would fall under projects partially funded by local bodies even if these projects are related to restoration work. However, the plan would require local bodies affected by the disasters to shoulder less financial burden than ordinary projects.

The construction and improvement of roads in inland areas and tourism promotion would follow under the third category and local governments would be required to shoulder the same ratio of financial burden as projects undertaken by other local bodies unaffected by the disasters.

The central government changed its policy to require affected local governments to shoulder part of the financial burden to encourage these local bodies to consider the cost-benefit performances of restoration projects and become more self-reliant.

Since the national government has fully funded restoration projects, the outstanding amounts of affected local bodies' savings, called "fiscal adjustment funds," have snowballed. The outstanding amount of savings of The Iwate Prefectural Government in fiscal 2013 stood at 31.5 billion yen, up 178 percent from fiscal 2009 before the disaster, while that of the Miyagi Prefectural Government grew 381 percent to 34.4 billion yen over the same period. These figures are far above the national average of a 45 percent increase.

Considering these improvements in the fiscal conditions of disaster-hit prefectural governments, the national government has deemed it necessary to require these local bodies to shoulder certain financial burdens for reconstruction work to win the understanding of taxpayers.