Japan Press Weekly

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2016 June 22 - 28 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Local residents petition gov’t to not provide loan to maglev railway project

With Prime Minister Abe Shinzo deciding to offer a low-interest loan to promote the maglev super-express railway project, residents living near the planned route on June 24 petitioned the government to retract the decision.

The petitioners are members of a group fighting in a court battle to halt the nine-trillion-yen construction project. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that the Transport Minister should overturn its approval to the so-called Chuo Shinkansen project, because it will cause devastating damage to the natural environment.

Pointing out that the Transport Minister approved the large-scale construction project under the condition that the government will provide no financial support to the Shinkansen operator, Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tokai), the written petition criticizes the recently-announced government decision for ignoring this conditionality. The document calls for the retraction of the decision, stating that the government has given no reasonable grounds for making a policy change to use taxpayers money for the maglev Shinkansen project which will create a grave financial risk to the general public.

At a press conference held in the Transport Ministry office building after the petitioning, Kawamura Teruo, one of the petitioners, mentioned that JR Tokai has welcomed the loan offer from the government. Stating that the controversial construction project did not go through the process of Diet discussions to determine if it deserves public financial support, he stressed that the project should be reconsidered from scratch.

Past related article:
> Residents sue gov’t to stop maglev railway construction [May 21, 2016]