Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 11 - 17 [WELFARE]

570K signatures requesting more housing aid for 3/11 victims submitted

Local co-ops on February 12 submitted more than 570,000 signatures to the Diet, requesting that public financial support be expanded for victims of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster to rebuild their homes.

They handed the petition over to 22 Dietmembers elected from northeast Japan constituencies. They included those of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, and the Party for Future Generations.

Six Federations of Consumers’ Cooperatives Unions in the northeast prefectures of Japan have worked on this signature-collection drive throughout the country since June last year. They call for an increase in the maximum aid of the relief program for natural disaster victims from the current three million yen to five million yen. They also request that the program be available to rebuild partially-destroyed homes as well.

At the rally held to formally submit the petition to supportive lawmakers, Miyagi co-op executive Nozaki Kazuo said, “We want the program to be expanded in accordance with the reality of the extent of damage and the current reconstruction situation.”

Matsubara Zin (LH, Democratic Party of Japan), secretary general of the bipartisan parliamentary group for natural disaster risk management, said, “It is a role of politics to responsibly assist them to restore their homes without delay.”

Takahashi Chizuko (LH, JCP) and Kami Tomoko (UH, JCP) gave speeches at the rally.