Japan May Designate Iwate Wildfire as Severe Disaster: Ishiba

Tokyo, March 5 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will mull designating the wildfire raging in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, as a severe disaster eligible for massive state aid, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday. 

"We'll make sure we respond quickly and appropriately, so that disaster victims can feel at ease and financial burdens on local governments are small," he told a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament.

The committee, attended by all cabinet members, began its debate on the fiscal 2025 draft budget, which passed the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, on Tuesday.

Responding to a question from Masayo Tanabu, secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's members in the Upper House, Ishiba explained that the government will start the assessment process for the possible designation soon after progress is made in addressing the fire.

Asked about the provisional gasoline tax surcharge, which opposition parties seek to scrap early, Ishiba said, "I don't think the issue can wait indefinitely." He added that alternative financial resources need to be secured in order to abolish the surcharge.

On the government's plan to raise caps on out-of-pocket expenses for high-cost medical care services in August, Ishiba said he will adjust his schedule to meet with patient groups.

Hiromi Todoroki, an executive of the Japan Federation of Cancer Patient Groups, who was invited to the committee meeting, asked Ishiba to stop the plan. Ishiba answered, "We'll continue considering how to maintain the system especially as we value patients' opinions."

The CDP's Kuniyoshi Noda requested that former executives of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's now-defunct faction that was led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe be summoned to testify as unsworn witnesses how the faction made decisions on the long-standing practice of generating slush funds from fundraising party revenues.

"The party should make necessary cooperation to uncover the truth" if requested by the Diet, Ishiba said.

END