ENTHUSIASM FOR RELOCATING CENTRAL GOV'T FUNCTIONS TO REGIONS FADING

NAGOYA, June 6 Kyodo - Enthusiasm for the relocation of some central government functions from the capital to local regions is fading as Diet debate on the issue has reached a stalemate, prompting eight candidate prefectures to cut project expenses that have so far totaled about 2.3 billion yen. ''I cannot see what the central government is going to do and feel great dissatisfaction. There is a sense of embarrassment in local regions,'' said Aichi Gov. Masaaki Kanda. Aichi Prefecture and neighboring Gifu Prefecture jointly set up a council to carry out an awareness program, but the two central Japan prefectures suspended contributions to the council in fiscal 2007 because of a lack of movement on the part of the central government. In 1999, the governmental Council for Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations picked Tochigi, Fukushima, Gifu and Aichi prefectures as candidates and said that Mie Prefecture as well as Shiga, Kyoto and Nara prefectures in the central part of the Kinki region could also become candidates. A consultative council of both houses of the Diet held discussions on the matter but its meeting in October 2005 proved to be its last. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has a section on the transfer of government functions from Tokyo, but an official said, ''We have no other way than to watch discussions in the Diet.'' During a session in February this year of the House of Representatives Internal Affairs and Communications Committee, Seiji Osaka, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, asked Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, ''What are you going do about the transfer of functions from the capital in the future?'' Fukuda replied dryly, ''The economy has been worsening and discussions have become less active. There was a time when discussions were held daily and I miss those days.'' Over the past several years, the eight candidate prefectures have drastically reduced transfer-related project expenses. Total expenses reached a peak of more than 300 million yen in fiscal 2000 but fell to about 10 million yen in fiscal 2007. The figure in Shiga Prefecture will likely be zero for three years from fiscal 2008 due to reform-minded Gov. Yukiko Kada's fiscal reform program. Kyoto Prefecture failed to allocate funds for transfer-related projects in its fiscal 2008 budget. ''We won't spend anything unless there are moves in the Diet,'' said an official. In Fukushima Prefecture, the relocation department was abolished in April this year. ''It's the Diet's responsibility for having made such a fuss,'' an official said. Tatsuo Hatta, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said, ''It's like the structure of a lottery. If selected as a relocation destination, a town will be enriched. It's merely influence peddling by Diet members. Everybody knows that useless public investments are meaningless and that the transfer is hot air.'' Hiroshi Ouchi, a professor at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, believes that the transfer of central government functions to local regions is necessary to prevent disruption as a result of earthquakes and other disasters. ''The transfer has been discussed along with the overconcentration of functions in Tokyo and its purpose has been blurred.'' ''Another reason for the stalemate is a belief that huge expenses are required for the transfer. Discussions should be conducted from the standpoint of protecting administrative functions from the impact of large disasters,'' he said.