 Opposition parties call for government assistance to disaster victims in building houses In the December 2 Upper House Special Committee on Disaster Measures meeting, Japanese Communist Party representative Takahashi Chizuko answered questions regarding a bill to revise the Natural Disaster Victims Relief Law submitted by the three opposition parties. The Japanese Communist, Democratic, and Social Democratic parties are calling for a revision of the current relief law to enable disaster victims to receive money to rebuild or restore their houses damaged by the earthquakes in Niigata Prefecture as well as typhoons and heavy rains which hit several prefectures. JCP Dietmember Shiokawa Tetsuya criticized the government for failing to assist disaster victims in rebuilding their houses while local municipalities are making efforts to provide them such assistance. Liberal Democratic Party member Fukui Teru expressed his opposition to the bill, saying, "It will have a negative influence on the relations between the state and citizens." However, he stated, "In this discussion, I have realized that it is not reasonable under the Constitution to not allow tax money to be used to assist in rebuilding houses." (end) |