Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

(Abridged)

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have a report to make in my position as Minister of State for Government Revitalization. Last Friday, I, together with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku, Special Advisor Renho, Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office Sonoda, and Secretary-General of the Government Revitalization Unit Kato held a meeting in which we deliberated and confirmed future policy for government revitalization. In view of the current status of work at each government ministry and agency following the Great East Japan Earthquake, while there have been some changes to the schedule for government revitalization, its importance remains absolutely unchanged. Rather, it will be necessary to enhance the efficiency of government administration as a whole, given the large budgetary allocations that will be required for disaster-related response, and this means that there is an increased necessity to review whether projects are truly urgent. Under this recognition, although the administrative review for this fiscal year will not be open to the public, this is part of efforts to further evolve and advance the administrative screening process and it will enable the procedures to be implemented with greater rigor. Towards the budget requests for FY2012, due monitoring of the budget reviews in each ministry and agency will be undertaken as a matter of course. In addition, for the projects included in the supplementary budget, a project sheet and check-list, which is used for administrative review will be compiled to assess whether the projects are truly beneficial to the people affected by the disaster and whether they can be used effectively or to greater effect in the future. Post-screening follow-up for incorporated administrative agencies, government-related public interest corporations, special accounts and regulatory systems has already been reinitiated where possible, and the Government seeks to realize the structural reforms that are necessary as we move forward. This is an outline of the content of the meeting and the items that were deliberated and confirmed by the participants I mentioned at the beginning.

Q&As

REPORTER: With regard to the compilation of a project sheet in order to implement screening reviews for the supplementary budget, what sort of time frame is the Government currently considering?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: A review as such will not be carried out. The project sheet will be the one that was used during the screening process and will look at the specific monetary flows and how the money was used for various projects. These project sheets will form the basis for review and as such need to be thoroughly compiled. As the items for the supplementary budget are related to disaster response, it is unlikely that the money allocated is being used in a wasteful manner, but the policy that the members of the government revitalization meeting confirmed is to thoroughly check to ensure that budget is being effectively utilized. Naturally, the various disaster-response operations by ministries and agencies should not be delayed and the specifics of the review process will be considered from now.

REPORTER: It has been pointed out that to date there have tended to be portions of supplementary budgets that have remained unused, and I imagine the project review sheet that you have just mentioned will be used to check on such matters. Do you envisage that such project review sheets will be utilized to identify any outstanding funds from the first supplementary budget and put them to use in the second or third supplementary budgets?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The purposes and themes for each of the supplementary budgets are different and therefore rather than checking each item directly, through the creation of project review sheets by each ministry and agency it will be possible to ascertain whether the budgetary allocations are being used effectively or not, and also to check that funds earmarked for disaster-response measures are not being channeled into other areas. This is the purpose of the sheets and they will encourage budgetary allocations to be used in an effective manner. At some point in the future, these project review sheets will be made public and will be a tool for ensuring that budgetary measures are robustly carried out. I hope that first of all these project review sheets will be compiled for the items included in the first supplementary budget, so long as this does not impact the disaster-response measures being carried out. As for the second supplementary budget, as the budget itself is still being prepared it would not make sense to create project review sheets yet, so at a certain point in the future the review sheets will be compiled internally as a means of checking budget implementation. That is the policy that has been decided and confirmed.

REPORTER: I have a question regarding the restarting of operations at Genkai Nuclear Power Station. Mayor Kishimoto of the town of Genkai has indicated his formal approval to Kyushu Electric Power Co., for operations at the power station to be restarted. How does the Government view this formal response from the Mayor?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) have been making efforts to provide full explanations concerning safety measures to the relevant officials in local governments. The response by the Mayor of Genkai would suggest that these efforts have resulted in a certain degree of local understanding and the Government accepts this response in a positive manner. The Government will continue to provide explanations concerning safety to related local governments and local residents.

REPORTER: The response that will be made by Governor Furukawa of Saga Prefecture will now be a focus of attention. The governor has indicated his wish to meet with the Prime Minister. What is the status of coordination concerning a possible visit to Saga Prefecture by the Prime Minister?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Given the current policy in which the Government is seeking to gain the understanding of local governments and residents by providing as comprehensive explanations as possible concerning safety aspects, a final decision will have to be made on whether the Prime Minister will make a visit, in view of various considerations. After thorough consultations with the governor, as well as METI and NISA, specific procedures and coordination will be considered from now.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: In some of the news reports over the weekend, it was reported that senior officials from the administration, beginning with Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku, have prepared an internal document that is being called "TEPCO's de facto dissolution plan" so to speak, which touches on the selling of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) electric power transmission business and the nationalization of nuclear power. Can you verify the facts of this matter? Also, what are your thoughts on the pros and cons of the nationalization of nuclear power?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I, at least, am not aware of that issue.

REPORTER: What are your thoughts on the nationalization of nuclear power?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: There is legislation which has been submitted to the Diet and is being deliberated on at the moment based on a scheme in which the state would acquire shares in TEPCO, although indirectly. In other words, a scheme which calls for a partial and temporary nationalization has been submitted to the Diet.