Before Accusing Local Governments

The government of Japan officially decided new framework of reconstruction measures for the region devastated by Great East Japan Earthquake. For the second half of a decade-long reconstruction period, FY 2016-2020, it prepared \6.5 trillion for supporting local communities. Although the framework required local governments certain amount of payment, some newspapers applauded attitude of national government, focusing rather on discount of local burden from initial \30 billion to final \22 billion. But, the criticism is on the attitude of national government to force “independence” of suffered people without realizing true situation of them.

Mainichi Shimbun believed that the framework was mostly accepted by local governments. Introducing the effort of national government on reviewing legal regulation, the paper reported that failed bids for reconstruction projects were mostly eliminated by lowering labor cost. It quoted the comment of an officer for Ministry of Finance, which expected serious efforts of local governments to determine priority of reconstruction projects. The comment was based on a notion that local governments had been innocent on appropriate spending of money. It was an effusion of bureaucratic elitism always fooling local governments.

Nikkei Shimbun, unusually, reported various concerns of local community. It picked up a construction project of road connecting devastated Miyako city with inland Morioka city. While national government supported 100% for constructing the road in first half of reconstruction period, it decided to demand local governments \1.4 billion for the second half. The road is called “road of life” by the residents of Miyako, because it is needed to transport patients in serious illness from Miyako where no hospital with highly advanced medical equipments exists. Nikkei quoted a comment of an old man who was living in a temporary house in Miyako city. The man was transported, with illness of cerebral infraction, to a hospital in Morioka by ambulance through winding old road in March. “New road is necessary for us to stay living in our hometown,” told the man to Nikkei.

National government keeps on criticizing inappropriate spending of reconstruction budget in devastated area. However, it was national government that distributed reconstruction budget to a number of projects in all over Japan, which was nothing to do with reconstruction of Tohoku. Before accusing local government, bureaucrats in Tokyo need to take a look at themselves.

It is impossible for local governments, suffered from a great natural disaster with a magnitude inexperienced for a thousand years, to apply reconstruction money with strict correctness to the projects. Taking enough time and elaborating a tailored plan for each local community is needed the most.