July 6, 2011
Prime Minister Kan Naoto intends to impose a top-down government reconstruction plan on disaster-affected regions, ignoring disaster victims’ demands and concerns.
Centered on big business demands
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan in collaboration with the opposition Liberal Democratic and Komei parties enacted a basic law for post-disaster reconstruction on June 20. However, the law lacks the principle which requires the government to bear responsibility of restoring disaster victims’ lives, while incorporating phrases used in the corporate world’s “new growth strategy” such as “response to trans-border socioeconomic activities.”
The government seeks not only to implement policies promoting deregulation and free trade, which help strengthen big corporations’ international competitiveness, but also to push municipalities in the disaster-hit region to implement whatever policy is being imposed by the state.
At the first meeting of the government Reconstruction Design Council, Prime Minister Kan Naoto asked the panel to “draw up a plan to create ‘new’ communities in the devastated areas, and not just restore them to how they were.” Kan, in the first place, has no intent to take into consideration local governments’ own plans for reconstruction.
The council report issued on June 25 calls for an establishment of a “special fishery zone,” which will allow private companies to enter into the local fishing industry. The report also paves the way for a consumption tax hike which will result in an imposition of yet another burden on disaster victims, under the guise of securing the financial resources needed for reconstruction work.
The report, in conclusion, absolves the government from responsibility by calling on disaster victims not to easily rely on “public assistance” or “mutual assistance” but to make “self-help efforts”.
Promotion of ‘structural reform’ policies
Using the quake-tsunami disaster as a great opportunity for corporate penetration into local economies, the Kan administration also intends to push ahead with “structural reform” policies to meet the business circles’ demands.
Specifically, it plans to create a “special fishery restoration zone” which relaxes the restrictions on the right to exclusively engage in costal fishing, currently possessed by local fishermen, and integrates small fishing ports in the areas damaged by tsunami so that private companies can also seek profits through fishing businesses.
The local fishers have expressed strong opposition to the new scheme, and representatives of the Miyagi Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association have asserted that corporate intrusion will bring not only confusion but cause a conflicts to arise in coastal fishing businesses at a time when they need to join forces to work together for reconstruction following the disaster.
Japan’s entry into negotiation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which the government is still trying to promote, has also met with opposition due to the concern that it will deal another heavy blow to agriculture, forestry and fishery industries in the disaster-hit region.
Opposition has also increased to any increase in the consumption tax. The government confirmed a plan to raise the tax rate by 5 % by the mid-2010s under the banner, “integrated reform of social insurance programs and taxation.” Prime Minister Kan Naoto praised it as a “historic decision.”
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized the tax increase plan on July 3 by saying, “It will deliver a serious blow to people’s living conditions and greatly hinder reconstruction efforts.”
Maintain ‘community of N-power interests’
Disaster victims are completely being ignored in nuclear energy-related issues as well.
The government is rushing to start Diet deliberations on a nuclear disaster compensation bill intended to prolong Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s operations and inject tax money into measures to deal with compensation. Without having TEPCO use its internal capital reserves or requiring major banks to write off their loans to the utility, the bill will maintain the “community of N-power interests” based on the cozy relations between politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations.
The government has stopped short of fulfilling its promise to reconsider its basic energy policy, starting with a clean slate. The prime minister, in a speech he made in Europe in May, declared continuation of the nation’s dependence on nuclear power generation by citing it as one of the four pillars of energy sources for Japan.
While unable to properly handle the nuclear accident in Fukushima, the government asserted the “safety” of suspended nuclear reactors and requested host municipalities to approve the resumption of their plant operations. It has failed to strengthen quake-resistant measures, one of the items it included in its report submitted to the IAEA. However, the government sent Industry Minister Kaieda Banri to Saga Prefecture to demand the restart of the Genkai nuclear power plant.
Some prefectural governors are expressing strong criticism over this move. Niigata Governor Izumida Hirohiko said, “The continued use of the ‘Safety fraud’ should not be allowed. Confirming ‘safety’ just because supposed tsunami-proof measures were taken is questionable.”
Centered on big business demands
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan in collaboration with the opposition Liberal Democratic and Komei parties enacted a basic law for post-disaster reconstruction on June 20. However, the law lacks the principle which requires the government to bear responsibility of restoring disaster victims’ lives, while incorporating phrases used in the corporate world’s “new growth strategy” such as “response to trans-border socioeconomic activities.”
The government seeks not only to implement policies promoting deregulation and free trade, which help strengthen big corporations’ international competitiveness, but also to push municipalities in the disaster-hit region to implement whatever policy is being imposed by the state.
At the first meeting of the government Reconstruction Design Council, Prime Minister Kan Naoto asked the panel to “draw up a plan to create ‘new’ communities in the devastated areas, and not just restore them to how they were.” Kan, in the first place, has no intent to take into consideration local governments’ own plans for reconstruction.
The council report issued on June 25 calls for an establishment of a “special fishery zone,” which will allow private companies to enter into the local fishing industry. The report also paves the way for a consumption tax hike which will result in an imposition of yet another burden on disaster victims, under the guise of securing the financial resources needed for reconstruction work.
The report, in conclusion, absolves the government from responsibility by calling on disaster victims not to easily rely on “public assistance” or “mutual assistance” but to make “self-help efforts”.
Promotion of ‘structural reform’ policies
Using the quake-tsunami disaster as a great opportunity for corporate penetration into local economies, the Kan administration also intends to push ahead with “structural reform” policies to meet the business circles’ demands.
Specifically, it plans to create a “special fishery restoration zone” which relaxes the restrictions on the right to exclusively engage in costal fishing, currently possessed by local fishermen, and integrates small fishing ports in the areas damaged by tsunami so that private companies can also seek profits through fishing businesses.
The local fishers have expressed strong opposition to the new scheme, and representatives of the Miyagi Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association have asserted that corporate intrusion will bring not only confusion but cause a conflicts to arise in coastal fishing businesses at a time when they need to join forces to work together for reconstruction following the disaster.
Japan’s entry into negotiation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which the government is still trying to promote, has also met with opposition due to the concern that it will deal another heavy blow to agriculture, forestry and fishery industries in the disaster-hit region.
Opposition has also increased to any increase in the consumption tax. The government confirmed a plan to raise the tax rate by 5 % by the mid-2010s under the banner, “integrated reform of social insurance programs and taxation.” Prime Minister Kan Naoto praised it as a “historic decision.”
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized the tax increase plan on July 3 by saying, “It will deliver a serious blow to people’s living conditions and greatly hinder reconstruction efforts.”
Maintain ‘community of N-power interests’
Disaster victims are completely being ignored in nuclear energy-related issues as well.
The government is rushing to start Diet deliberations on a nuclear disaster compensation bill intended to prolong Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s operations and inject tax money into measures to deal with compensation. Without having TEPCO use its internal capital reserves or requiring major banks to write off their loans to the utility, the bill will maintain the “community of N-power interests” based on the cozy relations between politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations.
The government has stopped short of fulfilling its promise to reconsider its basic energy policy, starting with a clean slate. The prime minister, in a speech he made in Europe in May, declared continuation of the nation’s dependence on nuclear power generation by citing it as one of the four pillars of energy sources for Japan.
While unable to properly handle the nuclear accident in Fukushima, the government asserted the “safety” of suspended nuclear reactors and requested host municipalities to approve the resumption of their plant operations. It has failed to strengthen quake-resistant measures, one of the items it included in its report submitted to the IAEA. However, the government sent Industry Minister Kaieda Banri to Saga Prefecture to demand the restart of the Genkai nuclear power plant.
Some prefectural governors are expressing strong criticism over this move. Niigata Governor Izumida Hirohiko said, “The continued use of the ‘Safety fraud’ should not be allowed. Confirming ‘safety’ just because supposed tsunami-proof measures were taken is questionable.”
