Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 15 - 21 [WELFARE]

Akita Pref. will subsidize low-income families’ purchase of heating oil

Pressed by the Japanese Communist Party’s efforts, the Akita prefectural government on January 20 announced that it will provide financial support for low-income households to purchase heating oil.

Akita has become the first prefecture to conduct this project this winter among six prefectures (Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima) in the Tohoku region where people experience severe winter weather.

Under the project, the prefectural government will share the cost of municipal government programs to offer financial assistance to low-income families to buy kerosene.

Akita Prefecture estimates that the project will cover about 80,000 households of elderly, disabled, single parents, and welfare recipients.

The JCP prefectural committee on October 30, 2013 made representations to Governor Satake Norihisa, demanding that the prefecture assist families with economic difficulties to purchase heating oil due to high oil prices. JCP municipal assemblypersons’ groups also urged their respective municipal heads and authorities to implement assistance measures for lower-income families’ kerosene purchases.