In order to be prepared for a succession of disasters, infrastructure development has become ever more important. Projects of great urgency should be prioritized to clarify the focus of the budget.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has instructed the ministries and agencies concerned to conduct urgent safety inspections of such critical infrastructure as electric power and airports. The government will work out concrete disaster-prevention and disaster-reduction measures, possibly by late November.
In light of a series of large-scale disasters that have occurred in various parts of the country since this summer, it is reasonable for the government to expedite its response.
The government will incorporate in its first supplementary budget for this fiscal year -- to be submitted to an extraordinary Diet session this autumn -- restoration and reconstruction measures for the damage wrought recently by torrential rains that pummeled western Japan and a massive earthquake that hit Hokkaido. On top of that, the government plans to earmark disaster-prevention and reduction measures in its second supplementary budget, which it will submit to the ordinary Diet session next year.
In the torrential rains that struck western Japan, damage caused by landslide disasters and flooding of rivers occurred extensively. Due to a storm surge caused by typhoon No. 21, part of Kansai Airport was submerged, forcing it to suspend operations temporarily. The quake in Hokkaido triggered a massive power outage, greatly affecting business activities and people's daily lives.
There are also areas that have repeatedly been hit by landslide disasters caused by torrential rains. Typhoon No. 24 has also brought about damage to various parts of the country.
Are there any embankments that may collapse, or any places that could trigger landslides? Is there an established system designed to prevent traffic from becoming paralyzed or to prevent power outages from occurring over extensive areas?
Soft measures also key
It is of great importance to comprehend the severity of the damage and how frequently damage has occurred, as well as identify where fragile infrastructure exists across the country.
Based on the inspection results, it is important to draw up a work schedule concerning reinforcements and repairs, and move ahead with improvements in a planned fashion.
A matter of concern is a possibility that with these disaster countermeasures, the state's expenditures will grow, likely further aggravating the nation's fiscal conditions, which are the worst among developed countries.
The government says that it is planning to intensively tackle the task of strengthening the nation's resilience to major disasters in the coming three years. With nationwide local elections and the House of Councillors election slated for 2019, the pressure to call for increased expenditures from lawmakers of the ruling parties could intensify.
The government should not resort to lavish budgetary spending under the pretext of strengthening the nation's resilience.
Given the fiscal conditions, reinforcement of existing infrastructure should be prioritized, rather than the development of new roads and the like.
It is obvious that there are limits to what the upgrading of physical capital such as infrastructure development can do to prevent or reduce damage from disasters. What counts more is to effectively combine such upgrades with soft measures.
Local governments should reconfirm their information provision systems in the event of disasters. There are many residents who do not evacuate even when they receive relevant information. It may also be necessary to improve the education programs for disaster prevention and evacuation drills.
It is essential for residents to grasp the degree of danger at the time of a disaster. A hazard map that indicates the expected damage and evacuation sites in local communities should be checked habitually.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 1, 2018)
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