Japan Press Weekly

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2022 November 16 - 22 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP urges metropolitan gov’t to stop water-supply interruptions due to delinquency in water bill payments

The number of interruptions of water supply stood at 105,000 in Tokyo in fiscal 2021, while 90,000 interruptions occurred in the first half of the current fiscal year (April-September) alone.

This was revealed in the answer that the Tokyo water authority gave to a question from Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyperson Izumi Naomi during a Metropolitan Assembly special committee meeting on November 14.

Izumi pointed out that the stop of the water supply runs counter to the principle of the Water Supply Act and said, "The metropolitan government should reduce or exempt water charges in order to continue the water supply to households in arrears with water bill payment.”

The law's Article 1 stipulates that water supply services shall be appropriate and reasonable "to contribute to the enhancement of public health and improvement of living environments for residents in the community". Izumi said, "The ongoing price surge and COVID pandemic are causing financial and living hardships on many Tokyoites. Since a growing number of households cannot afford to pay their water bills, the provision of a reasonable water supply is very important."

Izumi presented the survey results conducted by a support organization for single-mother households: 56% of the single mothers surveyed answered that they sometimes cannot afford to buy rice, the staple food, and 19% said they are behind on their water bills.

Governor Koike Yuriko did not stand up to respond to Izumi. The chief of the metropolitan government's Bureau of Waterworks claimed the beneficiaries-pay principle, taking a negative stance toward reduction of or exemption from water payment.

At present, 170 municipalities in Japan have adopted reduction or exemption measures pertaining to water charges.