Japan Press Weekly

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2011 June 22 - 28 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

85 assemblymen in Miyagi ask for gov’t support for rebuilding destroyed homes

A group of 85 members of local assemblies in Miyagi Prefecture, including Japanese Communist Party members, on June 27 petitioned the state to provide financial support to the March 11 quake victims to rebuild their homes.

Fourty-two members of the prefectural assembly, including two from the JCP, and 43 assemblymen from 31 cities and towns took part in this action. It is the first time for Miyagi’s local assemblymen to form a bipartisan group and to make representations to the central government.

Their 89-point petition includes the JCP’s request to establish a new system to provide financial assistance to reconstruct homes, subsidize the cost of repairing partially destroyed homes, and remove rubble at national expense.

Those who met with the group of local assemblymen included vice ministers of the Cabinet Office, the Finance Ministry, the Agricultural Ministry, and the Construction Ministry as well as Dietmembers whose constituencies are in Miyagi or the Tohoku region, including JCP member of the House of Representatives Takahashi Chizuko.

Takahashi said, “The government is reluctant to increase the level of support for disaster victims, arguing that it must maintain a fairness in treatment with victims of past natural disasters. However, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake victims’ efforts bore fruit in achieving the current support system. It is a matter of course for disaster victims to organize and seek improved public assistance.”