May 9, 2011
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo gave recommendations on May 8 on what the national government should do to help reconstruct the local economies of disaster-hit areas during his visit to Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.
During their tour of northern Japan from May 6, Shii and other JCP senior officials talked with disaster victims, municipal heads, and representatives of agriculture, fishery, and other local industries, and delivered monetary donations the JCP collected from throughout Japan.
At a press conference at a prefectural government office in Miyagi’s Sendai City, Shii stressed that the state needs to freeze disaster victims’ debts. “For instance, the government can buy out their debts and wait for them to return the money after their businesses are reestablished,” he said.
Shii also raised the need to guarantee disaster-affected people an opportunity to reestablish their businesses and proposed the following programs the government can implement in this regard: to cover 100 percent of expenses for fishers to purchase small fishing boats or to restore their aqua farms; to buy devastated agricultural land, restore them, and return them to their owners; and to provide start-up financing or interest-free loans for small-scale commerce and industry.
Thirdly, Shii called on the government to guarantee basic living conditions of local fishers and farmers and create job opportunities for them.
The JCP chair also pointed out the need to drastically improve the present system of giving a maximum of 3 million yen per house fully destroyed by the earthquake. “Public housing complexes and other forms or assistance are also necessary in order to meet residents’ various demands for adequate housing,” he added.
During their tour of northern Japan from May 6, Shii and other JCP senior officials talked with disaster victims, municipal heads, and representatives of agriculture, fishery, and other local industries, and delivered monetary donations the JCP collected from throughout Japan.
At a press conference at a prefectural government office in Miyagi’s Sendai City, Shii stressed that the state needs to freeze disaster victims’ debts. “For instance, the government can buy out their debts and wait for them to return the money after their businesses are reestablished,” he said.
Shii also raised the need to guarantee disaster-affected people an opportunity to reestablish their businesses and proposed the following programs the government can implement in this regard: to cover 100 percent of expenses for fishers to purchase small fishing boats or to restore their aqua farms; to buy devastated agricultural land, restore them, and return them to their owners; and to provide start-up financing or interest-free loans for small-scale commerce and industry.
Thirdly, Shii called on the government to guarantee basic living conditions of local fishers and farmers and create job opportunities for them.
The JCP chair also pointed out the need to drastically improve the present system of giving a maximum of 3 million yen per house fully destroyed by the earthquake. “Public housing complexes and other forms or assistance are also necessary in order to meet residents’ various demands for adequate housing,” he added.
