Govt to Spend Extra 61 B. Yen for Rain-Hit Western Japan

September 6, 2018

Tokyo- The government said Thursday it will spend an additional 61.6 billion yen to accelerate the reconstruction of western Japan areas hit by heavy rains and landslides in July.

The outlay will be made from the fiscal 2018 contingency reserves, as part of a relief package released last month. The amount will add to the spending of 105.8 billion yen that has already been decided under the package.

At a meeting of the government's special task force on the rain disaster, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the additional spending is mainly aimed at speeding up the recovery of the agricultural and tourism sectors.

Of the 61.6 billion yen, 37.3 billion yen will be spent to rebuild public facilities and 20.4 billion yen to dispose of earth and sand left after landslides and other incidents that may cause a secondary disaster.

The government will also add Kagawa and Tokushima prefectures to the list of municipalities covered by a program that gives accommodation fee discounts to tourists staying in disaster-affected areas at least for two nights. Jiji Press