Japan Press Weekly

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2015 March 4 - 10 [POLITICS]

JCP calls for measures to deal with shortage of public workers in 2011 disaster-hit areas

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Tamura Takaaki on March 5 at a Diet meeting demanded that the government take measures to help 2011 disaster-hit municipalities to have a sufficient number of staff to recover from the damage.

At a meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on Internal Affairs and Communications, Tamura said that in the disaster-affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, severe shortages of public workers are hampering reconstruction efforts. He pointed out that although local governments around the country send their staff to these struggling cities, towns, and villages in response to requests from 236 municipalities in the three prefectures, only 14 of the 236 municipalities received as many staff as they requested.

For the affected municipalities, Tamura stressed, it is vital to have an adequate number of public employees. The JCP Dietmember argued that the central government should increase financial assistance so that the disaster-stricken local governments can maintain workers needed for reconstruction work, including those who came from other local governments.

State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Ninoyu Satoshi in reply said that the ministry will improve its support for the municipalities struggling with staff shortages.