Bill to offer relief to Minamata patients passes lower house+

TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo -
The House of Representatives passed a bill Friday to offer financial relief to
as many as 20,000 people suffering from Minamata mercury poisoning in the 1950s
and 1960s under eased standards of recognition.

Following the lower house passage, which came quickly after a concession was
made between the ruling and opposition parties Thursday, the bill is expected
to clear the House of Councillors and become law next week.
The Environment Ministry seeks to earmark 11.5 billion yen to finance measures
stipulated in the bill in the first year of the legislation's implementation.
Chemical maker Chisso Corp., which released mercury-tainted water into the sea
from a synthetic resin factory in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, has paid
compensation to patients largely depending on loans and other forms of
assistance from the state and prefectural governments.
About 30,000 people, mainly in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, are
currently seeking relief. The ministry estimates about 20,000 of them will be
eligible for some form of relief.
The amount of relief will be subject to further discussion as the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party plan to set the amount at
1.5 million yen each, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan aims
for 3 million yen.
The three parties agreed to widen the scope of recognized neurological
disorders, newly including Minamata victims complaining of four types of
symptoms such as systematic sensory impairment.
Minamata disease, which was recognized as a disease caused by pollution in
September 1968, paralyzes the central nervous system and causes birth defects.
The symptoms include numbness, persistent headaches and impaired balance.
The disease has killed hundreds of people, disabled thousands and produced
birth defects after locals ate contaminated fish and shellfish in the city of
Minamata, Kumamoto, in southwestern Japan. Since coming to light in May 1956,
it has become one of Japan's worst cases of pollution-related illness.
The three parties also agreed to allow Chisso to split into two entities.
Following the split-up, Chisso's holding company will be responsible for
financially compensating the victims and its subsidiary will take over business
operations.
The new legislation will expand the scope of patients entitled to compensation
for the first time since 1995, when the Cabinet of then Prime Minister Tomiichi
Murayama endorsed a settlement and called on Chisso to provide a lump sum
payment of 2.6 million yen each to about 11,000 Minamata disease patients who
had not been officially recognized.
The government's decision in 1995 also prompted the state and municipalities to
provide 20,000 yen in monthly medical allowances.
==Kyodo