Tokyo: The Japanese government has planned
to constitute an agency that will effectively assist areas damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to a
draft bill obtained by Kyodo News.
The reconstruction agency will directly report to
the prime minister and will be authorized to make binding
recommendations to other government offices concerned.
It will be established for 10 years through fiscal 2020
to March 31, 2021, and will be headquartered in Tokyo, with
bureaus in the three disaster-ravaged prefectures of Iwate,
Miyagi and Fukushima.
As reconstruction efforts are already under way, the bill
states that the new agency will be mainly tasked with
coordinating them, rather than taking over existing
authorities, so as to facilitate the work.
The government plans to submit the bill to an
extraordinary Diet session, which is expected to be convened
in late October, in the hope of establishing the agency during
the January-April period of next year.
As the centralized organ to process requests from and
applications to municipalities in disaster-damaged areas, the
new agency will advise them on preparation of reconstruction
plans, authorize special reconstruction zones and allocate
government subsidies.
PTI
