復興庁１年 現場主義で地域再生加速せよ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 11, 2013)
1-year-old Reconstruction Agency must listen to front-line voices
復興庁１年　現場主義で地域再生加速せよ（2月10日付・読売社説）

Sunday marks the first anniversary of the establishment of the Reconstruction Agency, which supervises government efforts to reconstruct areas hard-hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
　東日本大震災の被災地を再生させる司令塔である復興庁の設置から、１０日で１年を迎える。

There are many disaster-related issues to be dealt with, such as collective relocation of people in affected areas, development of social infrastructure and countermeasures against the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government should do its best to accelerate reconstruction projects.
　被災者の集団移転、社会資本の整備、原子力発電所事故対応など、未解決の課題は多い。安倍政権は、復興事業を全力で加速させるべきだ。

This month, the agency established a head office for the reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture from the March 11, 2011, disaster, and appointed Yukiyoshi Minehisa, former vice minister of the agency, as its first secretary general.
　復興庁は今月、福島復興再生総局を設置し、事務局長に峰久幸義前次官を起用した。

The new office was established to supervise three outposts of relevant ministries in Fukushima Prefecture: the agency's Fukushima reconstruction bureau, the Environment Ministry's Fukushima environment restoration office and the Cabinet Office's local headquarters to deal with the nuclear crisis at the crippled Fukushima plant. It aims to correct sectional approaches to reconstruction of the area.
福島復興局、福島環境再生事務所、原子力災害現地対策本部の３組織を統括し、縦割り対応を改める狙いだ。

Restoration of Fukushima Prefecture is lagging behind that of Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. We praise the agency for building a system to listen to the voices of people in the area and to make necessary policy decisions quickly by stationing Minehisa in the prefecture as head of the new office.
　原発事故の被害を受けた福島県の復興は、宮城、岩手両県と比べて遅れている。峰久前次官を現地に常駐させ、現場の声を聞いて、迅速な政策決定ができる体制を構築したことは評価できる。

The agency will also establish a Tokyo headquarters for reconstruction of Fukushima Prefecture comprising directors general of relevant government offices. The agency said efforts for reconstruction of the prefecture would be enhanced with two "head offices," one in Tokyo and the other in the prefecture.
　復興庁にも、関係省庁の局長級による福島復興再生総括本部を設置し、東京・福島の「２本社体制」で取り組みを強化するという。

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Much of budget still unused

As of September, only 51 percent of the reconstruction budget had been paid out. The implementation rate was particularly low--only 18 percent--for funds appropriated for nuclear decontamination, mainly because development of interim storage facilities for radioactively contaminated soil and other materials has been delayed, including securing land for such facilities.
　昨年９月時点で、復興予算の執行率は５１％にとどまり、中でも除染は１８％と低い。汚染土などの中間貯蔵施設の場所確保・整備が遅れていることが最大の原因だ。

With the establishment of the head office, the government should work harder to negotiate with local governments concerned and seek their agreements to host such facilities.
　再生総局設置を機に、関係自治体と調整し、施設受け入れの同意取り付けを急ぐ必要がある。

In the fiscal 2013 draft budget, the government allocated 4.38 trillion yen, up 608.6 billion yen from the fiscal 2012 budget, to the special account for disaster reconstruction. The government also raised the ceiling of the reconstruction budget by 6 trillion yen from the original 19 trillion yen over five years.
　政府は２０１３年度予算案で、復興特別会計に前年度比６０８６億円増の４兆３８４０億円を計上した。５年間で１９兆円だった復興予算の枠も６兆円増額した。

The Democratic Party of Japan-led government was criticized when a huge amount of funds was found to have been allocated for many projects irrelevant to reconstruction of the disaster-hit areas, under the name of "nationwide disaster management projects."
　民主党政権では、「全国防災事業」として、被災地の復興と乖離(かいり)した多額の予算が発覚し、批判された。

It was appropriate that the allocation of money for nationwide disaster management projects was narrowed down in the fiscal 2013 draft budget to 130 billion yen from 941.2 billion yen at the budget request stage, by limiting use of the budget to projects directly related to protection of human life.
１３年度は、人命に直結する事業に使途を限定し、昨夏の要求段階の９４１２億円から１３００億円に絞り込んだのは当然だ。

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Eliminate wasteful spending

The reconstruction budget is financed mainly with revenues from income, residential and other taxes that were raised to aid reconstruction. The budget must be concentrated on projects that are absolutely necessary, without allowing any wasteful spending. We expect the government to scrutinize the cost-effectiveness of the projects and work with private companies to achieve synergy.
　復興予算は、所得税や住民税などの復興増税が主財源である。ムダな歳出は許されず、本当に必要な事業に予算を集中させなければならない。事業の費用対効果を精査し、民間企業と連携して相乗効果を上げてもらいたい。

Reconstruction grants for 40 projects under five ministries, such as development of public housing for people affected by the disaster and redevelopment of residential areas, were doubled to 591.8 billion yen.
　災害公営住宅整備、市街地再整備など５省４０事業を対象とする復興交付金は、５９１８億円に倍増された。

However, governments of small municipalities affected by the disaster still often cannot spend their grants because they do not have enough expert staff specialized in engineering.
ただ、小規模の被災自治体では依然、技術系の専門職員が不足しており、交付金を使い切れない例が少なくない。

It is important to enhance assistance for such governments in terms of human resources by utilizing retired public servants and engineers from the private sector.
　公務員ＯＢや民間の技術者を積極的に活用し、人材支援を強化することが大切だ。

The government allocated 10 billion yen, more than double the figure in fiscal 2012, to the reconstruction promotion budget to support projects such as holding events and disseminating information, which involve multiple government offices.
　イベント開催、情報発信など、複数の府省にまたがるソフト事業を支援する復興推進調整費も、前年度の２倍の１００億円が計上された。

The government should take careful action based on the actual needs of the areas affected by the disaster.
現地のニーズを踏まえた、きめ細かな対応が求められる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 10, 2013)
（2013年2月10日01時02分  読売新聞）