Dubious exchanges of money and other valuable articles were repeatedly made between officials of a prefectural government hosting nuclear power plants and the former deputy head of a town. Such acts can only give rise to doubt about the fairness of their work.
A total of 109 current and former senior officials of the Fukui prefectural government were found to have accepted such things as cash, merchandise coupons and pure gold in the shape of an old coin from a former deputy head of the town of Takahama in the prefecture. The former deputy head had strong ties with companies that conduct construction work related to nuclear power plants and had presented some executives of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. with cash and gifts worth more than 300 million yen.
According to an investigation commission of the prefectural government, the exchange of money and gifts -- under the pretext of celebrating officials' assuming office, farewell gifts, mid-summer and year-end gifts and so forth -- continued for more than 20 years. It is astonishing that cash and gifts were given by a specific person to a number of officials of the prefectural government over a long period of time.
One senior official received cash and gifts worth a total of 200,000 yen. The investigation commission has pointed out that the cash and gifts worth a total of 1.2 million yen that the 21 government officials, including this executive, allegedly received went beyond social norms. There was even a case in which a senior official of the civil engineering department, in charge of public works, was given merchandise coupons at the prefectural government office.
Public servants who hold public office are required to have a high degree of integrity. Depending on the circumstances, receiving cash and gifts could bring charges of bribe-taking, at least making it obvious that such acts are highly contrary to the ethics of public-service workers.
The construction company for which the former deputy head allegedly served as an adviser has not only undertaken nuclear power-related work from KEPCO, but has also received orders for public works projects worth a total of 5.8 billion yen from the prefectural government over the past 25 years. The prefectural government has also placed orders worth a total of 300 million yen with a security company where the former deputy head served as director.
The investigation commission concluded "there were no cases in which the prefectural government gave any special favors to the companies." But isn't it inevitable for a collusive relationship between the prefectural government and the companies to be suspected?
The three KEPCO nuclear power plants of Mihama, Takahama and Oi are located in Fukui Prefecture. The consent of the prefectural government will effectively be needed for operations to resume at these power stations. And in the event of an accident or some other trouble occurring at the plant, the prefectural government receives a report from KEPCO.
The fact that a number of officials of the prefectural government accepted cash and gifts from the same person that KEPCO executives did may amplify local residents' distrust about the nuclear power plants.
Some prefectural government officials shared an understanding that they must be careful about dealing with the former deputy head. There was even an ongoing practice among them of not refusing when offered cash and gifts by the former deputy head, but then giving him something equivalent in return at a later time.
The prefectural government had individual officials handle the matter, failing to deal with the problem as an organization -- this is the same approach that KEPCO took.
Based on the investigation's findings, Fukui Gov. Tatsuji Sugimoto said the prefectural government will take measures to prevent similar irregularities from occurring, for instance by improving the code of ethics for personnel. The prefectural government must reflect seriously on the latest state of affairs and have all personnel thoroughly reform their awareness.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 26, 2019)
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