Fukushima reconstruction bureau strengthened

January 14, 2013

Fukushima agency gets boost / Reconstruction bureau to get more staff, chief to be upgraded

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T130113003093.htm

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government plans to strengthen the Fukushima reconstruction bureau, a branch of the Reconstruction Agency, to accelerate recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

It will reorganize the bureau to become a more powerful base for supporting rehabilitation in Fukushima Prefecture. It also plans to increase the number of staff, which is currently about 40. The head of the new organization will be upgraded from deputy director general level to bureau chief.

The reorganization aims to help the Fukushima branch of the agency be more effective as a front-line decision-making authority for the area's reconstruction. The move is being initiated following instructions from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who considers the bureau as more than a mere branch of the agency, saying it is "one of two head offices."

Abe intends to accelerate progress in reconstruction efforts by reorganizing the system so that requests made by affected areas can be dealt with quickly.

Abe visited Miyagi Prefecture on Saturday to get a better grasp on the actual situation in disaster-hit areas. He inspected a shipbuilding plant and a seafood processing facility in Ishinomaki, both of which were destroyed by tsunami on March 11, 2011.

In Iwanuma, he inspected a construction site for a group of residents who are awaiting relocation to higher ground. In Watari, he talked with victims living in temporary housing units.

Abe's visit to areas affected by the disaster was his second, following the first to Fukushima late last year. Abe told reporters, "I'll compile a budget for the next fiscal year based on the concept that revitalization is impossible without reconstructing these affected areas."