The Way Forward
On-going Commitment
The Government is committed to creating an environment in which each and every disaster victim is able to go about rebuilding their livelihood. We will achieve this by providing clear and concrete information on progress and direction, indicating what steps will be taken towards reconstruction and by when, to allow people to plan accordingly.
An important step in accelerating this process will also be to manage human resources requirements, to ensure that appropriate skills are in place in disaster areas. This will include making active use of skilled and experienced human resources in government to help reinforce the capabilities of the teams responsible for reconstruction work within local authorities. Specialists will also be brought in to help tackle specific tasks, such as to help accelerate efforts to address delays in transferring residential areas to higher-elevation land, while collaboration with the private sector will remain an important component.
We will also work to simplify and streamline administrative procedures. Reconstruction is a race against time, and while certain procedures may be reasonable and necessary during normal times, we must ensure they are not an impediment to reconstruction efforts in disaster areas. Procedures for acquiring farmland, for example, have already been streamlined, and significant steps are also being taken to simplify procedures in other areas, including the transfer of housing to areas of high elevation and factory construction.
Underpinning the various initiatives and steps being undertaken is a firm commitment to ensuring that all necessary funding is in place. The government has pledged to secure the financial resources necessary to expand the budgetary framework for the reconstruction of disaster areas by 6 trillion yen to 25 trillion yen over the five years starting the fiscal year 2011. This additional funding will enable resources to be channeled towards projects that are outside the previous budgetary framework of 19 trillion yen, and should help provide an additional sense of security those in the disaster affected areas.