Govt to Use ¥4.74 Billion from Reserves for Quake Relief Aid

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:09 JST, January 9, 2024

The government decided Tuesday morning to pay out ¥4.74 billion from the reserves of the fiscal year 2023 budget to support people affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

The decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The money will be used for “push-type support,” or support activities aimed at delivering aid supplies to disaster-hit areas without the need for requests.

Following the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a meeting with the government’s Emergency Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I ask you to act quickly and use the funds to improve the situation in the affected areas,” Kishida said of the ¥4.74 billion reserve.

Kishida then gave instructions to relevant ministries and agencies on measures to help earthquake-affected municipalities ease cash-flow problems, such as by delivering special allocation to those municipalities as soon as possible.

moving forward the date that special tax allocations are offered to those municipalities.

“It is necessary to improve the hygiene and living conditions of shelters to prevent disaster-related deaths,” the prime minister said. He asked relevant parties to expedite deliveries of heaters and dispatch more specialists in contagious diseases and other experts to those areas.

As for “secondary evacuation,” or transferring evacuees to other shelters, such as hotels, Kishida stated his intention to prioritize sick people, the elderly, expecting mothers and other vulnerable people.