Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

• Disposal of debris from disaster-affected regions

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Last weekend Mr. Motegi, Chair of the Policy Research Council of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) issued a request to you concerning the schedule for the disposal of debris from the disaster-affected regions, to which you responded that the Government would "also consider legal measures." What did you mean by "legal measures" and what are the facts of the matter?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I think that there has been a slight misunderstanding, so to clarify, I would point out that the proposals from the LDP do not contain any reference to legislation or legal measures. The requests submitted by the LDP refer to various items, including a schedule for disposal according to blocs, the announcement of the schedule, the compilation of disposal standards by the Government for the purpose of wide-area disposal, and Government responsibility for a response to extra costs incurred by local governments. Given that the requests submitted are of great value, I have shared their content with Cabinet ministers concerned, and I believe the reference to legal measures could have arisen at this point. In the Special Measures Act for Disaster Waste Management that was passed in August last year, the disposal of debris is stipulated as being the responsibility of the Government, which will involve the disposal of disaster-related waste and also the formulation of a schedule that clearly sets out the timetable for implementation. In fact, the schedule has been already set out, however this has not been widely circulated. Therefore, I stated that based on the Special Measures Act of last year I would seek to announce once again the schedule for disposal of debris.

REPORTER: You have stated that you will announce the schedule once again, so is this to publicize the contents of the schedule more widely?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: Yes. The requests submitted by the LDP last week will be incorporated into the schedule and therefore it will be partially revised and announced once again, based on the provisions of the Special Measures Act for Disaster Waste Management.

(Abridged)