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

Tokyo must withdraw bid to host Olympics: JCP

Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Yoshida Nobuo on June 21 stated that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government should withdraw its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games on the grounds that Tokyo's plan is a waste of tax money and will cause environmental destruction.

Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro has been arguing that Tokyo will not allow excessive expenditure, but Yoshida stressed in a statement issued at the end of the regular session of the Metropolitan Assembly, that Ishihara's argument is groundless.

In the assembly discussions, JCP members revealed that to host the Olympics, the metropolitan government is planning to spend 6 trillion yen for highway construction, 200 billion yen for subway construction, and 1.2 trillion yen to build a stadium, an athlete's village, and a media center.

Yoshida criticized the metropolitan government for claiming that it needs to spend only 50 billion yen to host the Olympic by intentionally excluding the cost for building the infrastructure such as roads and transportation systems from its Olympic-related budget.
- Akahata, June 23, 2006