Japan Press Weekly

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2011 January 19 - 25 [JCP]

Pushed by JCP, city assembly urges company to return subsidy

A local government in Nagano Prefecture on January 21 requested a lighting equipment maker to return public subsidies of 160 million yen as it closed a factory in the city. The request was based on a proposal made by city assembly members of the Japanese Communist Party.

Tokyo-based NEC Lighting in November closed its factory in Nagano’s Ina City and dismissed 140 workers there in order to relocate its business overseas.

In addition to 300 million yen it received from Nagano Prefecture, the company was paid by the municipality 160 million yen in subsidies in just the past four years.

The local government, in response to the company’s request, spent 670 million yen to develop land for the company to build another factory. However, NEC Lighting ended up not purchasing the land.

Insisting that the factory closure will have a serious impact on the local economy, three JCP representatives in the Ina City Assembly demanded that the mayor call on the company to maintain employment and return the subsidies to the municipality.

The local assembly adopted a unanimous resolution calling on NEC Lighting to return the subsidies as well as secure new jobs for the dismissed employees.