Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 8 - 14 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Pension office seizes compensation for Fukushima nuclear accident

The public pension office seized the total amount of compensation Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) paid to a victim of the Fukushima nuclear accident who had fallen behind in his social insurance premium payments.

This was revealed by Japanese Communist Party representative Tamura Tomoko at a House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting on February 7. She demanded that the pension office stop such seizures of people’s assets.

The disaster victim is a dairy business owner in Fukushima Prefecture. He told the pension office that he would pay his back payments when he receives compensation from the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

However, the pension office sent a seizure notification to him in December and on January 20, right after the compensation money was sent to his bank account, it seized the total compensation amount of 3,903,171 yen.

“The compensation payment is a lifeline for dairy farmers,” said Tamura, stressing that their business was severely affected by the suspension of milk shipments due to the nuclear accident.

While promising to return the difference between the seized compensation payment and the past due pension payments, Welfare Minister Komiyama Yoko stated that unpaid premiums must be collected in order to maintain the fairness of the welfare system.

JCP Tamura also disclosed information concerning the National Tax Agency’s plan to impose a tax on the compensation paid to small- and medium-sized business owners and demanded a halt to the plan.