tokyo

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP criticizes Tokyo budget for snubbing residents

Japanese Communist Party members in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly are calling for a drastic change of the Tokyo Metropolitan government's policy priority so that an increase in tax revenues will be used for resident-oriented measures and not for large public works projects.

On March 28 at a meeting of the assembly's special committee on the budget, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Komei Party, and the Seikatsusha Net used their majority to pass a draft budget for FY 2006 submitted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. JCP Oyama Tomoko took the floor in opposition to the draft budget.

She stated that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government seeks to implement a budget that puts priority on large-scale development projects such as the construction of three major roads and a further expansion of the Tokyo International Airport by using Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games as the driving force, while cutting financial support for small- and medium-sized businesses and abolishing metropolitan government-run facilities or outsourcing these services to the private sector.

Arguing that a local government is "responsible for defending the living conditions and safety of residents," she demanded that an increase of 250 billion yen in tax revenues should be spent to improve measures to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, create jobs for the youth, strengthen social welfare program, support small- and medium-sized businesses, and improve the education system.

To achieve this goal, the JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members group proposed that the draft budget be recompiled.

In the committee meeting, JCP Muramatsu Mieko explained the outline of the JCP draft budget that contains five points: defend residents' lives and businesses; improve welfare services for senior citizens and establish a Tokyo in which the residents can raise children without anxieties; meet the residents' heartfelt demands such as introduction of small-sized classes; establish an earthquake-resistant Tokyo; and reconsider wasteful Tokyo Metropolitan Government policies that focus on unnecessary development projects.
- Akahata, March 29, 2006