The Yomiuri Shimbun
Local governments are demanding the central government fully disclose information on the financial contributions they are obliged to shoulder for public work projects such as those involving major rivers, dams and national highways.
The central government has admitted the information it currently provides is insufficient, prompting Construction and Transport Minister Kazuyoshi Kaneko to say he will "make sure [the information will be made available] as soon as possible."
The government also might discuss other measures, such as clarifying to what extent local governments are supposed to cover expenses.
But the key problem will be encountered farther down the road. The National Governors' Association is demanding the central government stop making local governments shoulder the cost for maintaining and managing national roads designated as coming under Construction and Transport Ministry control, insisting that the central government should shoulder the whole cost, which would mean picking up the about 20 percent financial burden local governments currently bear.
The local governments are demanding a review of the system at its roots. Ultimately, they want central government-led projects to be restricted to arterial roads, major rivers and the like, and that they be paid for by the central government. The local governments also say that for projects they are to shoulder the costs of they want power and financial resources transferred to them.
However, the ministry, which has insisted the system does not need reviewing, wants to put off talk of reform and has chosen instead to simply note the points that have been raised about the issue.
If the system is to be changed so the central government shoulders the full cost of major local construction and maintenance projects, a way to finance the increased burden must be found. But some in the Finance Ministry say central government finances are tighter than those of local governments.
The central government's additional economic stimulus package announced April 10 includes 1.4 trillion yen in grants to take on an average 90 percent of the burden it shares with local governments in funding major projects.
"This is an emergency measure. There's no capacity to make it long-term," a senior ministry official said.
Discussions on the way public works projects should be funded have yet to start.
"If policy targets are achieved, it doesn't matter whether it was done by the central government or by a local government," Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba said. "But if we hand power and financial resources over to local governments, can they achieve the policy targets?"
The push to review the system is not gaining traction within the government.
Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kunio Hatoyama ceded little ground, saying, "I think it's a good opportunity to rethink the way we divide the roles of the central and local governments,"
But others have called for the subject to be discussed over the coming two to three years.
Local governments, however, are far from united on this issue.
A new expressway crossing the Southern Alps mountain range is being built between Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.
"If we receive subsidies from the [central government] and build the road on our own, government subsidies and our burden are about fifty-fifty," Nagano Gov. Jin Murai said of the project to build the expressway of about 100 kilometers. "If the government controls the project, the prefectural government shoulders only one-third of the cost."
"You shouldn't rush to reform the system by merely brandishing principles," he added.
Some in the Liberal Democratic Party are reluctant to tackle the situation, but are nonetheless trying to grasp what the central and local governments really think.
"If we reduce the financial burdens on local governments, we can probably put an end to this argument," said a former ministry official who is now a Diet member belonging to the LDP's Construction and Transport Division.
(Apr. 18, 2009)
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