Government must fund quake-resistant school buildings -- Akahata editorial, July 3 (excerpts)

In earthquake-prone Japan, a government survey on the earthquake resistance of the nation's educational and medical facilities shows that 54.3 percent of schools and 43.3 percent of hospitals are without needed repairs. There are even some buildings that have never undergone safety inspections.

Half of facilities need repairs

It is serious that nearly half of schools and medical facilities may not have quake-resistant structures.

However, the government has long failed to grasp even the number of facilities that need repairs. The central government has left all the responsibility to local governments.

The national government must lay out a clear plan to have educational and medical buildings quake-resistant, and provide more financial support for renovation.

Currently, the government pays half of costs of renovation for public school buildings but pays only one-third for a private school.

Without sufficient budgets, local governments are reluctant to go ahead with inspections of buildings and the needed repairs. The first step is for the central government to provide money for all buildings to be checked up.

Public works projects for supporting life

Expenditure on public works projects of both central and local governments amount to 50 trillion yen a year. Many are for wasteful large-scale development without justifiable purposes that devastate the environment.

Although Japan is earthquake-prone, the government has placed less interests in making school buildings and medical facilities quake-resistant supposedly because of financial difficulty. It is upside-down politics.

A changeover to life-based public works projects will award more government contracts to more small- and medium-sized construction companies, boost local economies, and create more jobs.

The JCP proposes that the government and municipalities take measures to improve the safety of schools and hospitals without delay by making them resistant to earthquakes. (end)