December 19 & 20, 2017
Obayashi Corporation, a major general construction contractor, admitted to the allegations that it had conferred on bids with the other three builders in connection with the new bullet train-related work which Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is pushing, Akahata learned on December 19.
The investigative team from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission on the same day raided Obayashi Corporation and Taisei Corporation on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Law, following the previous day's search of Kajima Corporation and Shimizu Corporation.
In an interview with Akahata, the Obayashi Corporation head office said it will cooperate with the probe but did not make any comments in regard to this scandal.
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira said to reporters in the Diet building, "The so-called 'mammoth project of the century' has evolved into the 'mammoth collusion of the century'. The government should order a halt to the project and fulfil its responsibility to ensure that the whole picture can be revealed."
PM Abe sees the 9-trillion-yen Linear Chuo Shinkansen construction as a "national project ", having already injected 3-trillion-yen public money into it.
Koike said, "The government should not overlook this situation by saying 'it is a private sector, namely Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tokai), project. The super-express train using maglev technology is the very project that has public aspects. The prosecutors should have dealt with this scandal as a collusive bidding scheme involving public offices, so the government has a heavy responsibility." He stressed the need to stop the construction in order to look into the allegations.
The JCP has been opposed to the Linear Chuo Shinkansen project, arguing that the plan will place an enormous burden on the general public, destroy the surrounding environment, and waste too much power.
Past related articles:
> JCP Motomura urges gov’t to abandon money-consuming maglev train project [October 5, 2016]
> Residents sue gov’t to stop maglev railway construction [May 21, 2016]
The investigative team from the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission on the same day raided Obayashi Corporation and Taisei Corporation on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Law, following the previous day's search of Kajima Corporation and Shimizu Corporation.
In an interview with Akahata, the Obayashi Corporation head office said it will cooperate with the probe but did not make any comments in regard to this scandal.
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira said to reporters in the Diet building, "The so-called 'mammoth project of the century' has evolved into the 'mammoth collusion of the century'. The government should order a halt to the project and fulfil its responsibility to ensure that the whole picture can be revealed."
PM Abe sees the 9-trillion-yen Linear Chuo Shinkansen construction as a "national project ", having already injected 3-trillion-yen public money into it.
Koike said, "The government should not overlook this situation by saying 'it is a private sector, namely Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tokai), project. The super-express train using maglev technology is the very project that has public aspects. The prosecutors should have dealt with this scandal as a collusive bidding scheme involving public offices, so the government has a heavy responsibility." He stressed the need to stop the construction in order to look into the allegations.
The JCP has been opposed to the Linear Chuo Shinkansen project, arguing that the plan will place an enormous burden on the general public, destroy the surrounding environment, and waste too much power.
Past related articles:
> JCP Motomura urges gov’t to abandon money-consuming maglev train project [October 5, 2016]
> Residents sue gov’t to stop maglev railway construction [May 21, 2016]
