September 9, 2010

Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Takahashi Chizuko at a House Health, Labor and Welfare Committee meeting on September 8, with many disabled persons observing the session, demanded the cancellation of the government plan to scrap facilities for handicapped persons.

The government in September 2009 decided to close and then merge eight state-run facilities for the disabled. These facilities are playing an important role in supporting their self-reliance.

Under the plan, the support center for the visually-impaired in Tochigi Prefecture will be merged with the center for severely disabled people in Shizuoka into the rehabilitation center in Saitama.

A parliamentary secretary of the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry said that he feels sorry for the users, but went on to justify the closing and merging plan because of a decrease in the number of users.

Takahashi refuted this argument by stating that there has been an increase in the number of users of the severely disabled center, even with some having to be put on the waiting list.

The JCP Dietwoman demanded that the plan be cancelled, as these support centers are increasing in importance, in contrast to the government plan to cut public employees.
- Akahata, September 9, 2010