Aid plan for flood-hit areas

TOKYO: The Japanese government plans to provide special fiscal aid for recovery efforts in the western Japan regions ravaged by the country’s worst disaster caused by heavy rains in decades, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday.

The death toll from the floods and landslides caused by the torrential rains earlier in the month rose to 216, with over 20 people still missing, according to Kyodo News tallies.

While rescuers continued to search for the missing in Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, Osaka and Nara prefectures, Mr Abe said rebuilding work in the afflicted regions will be subject to special subsidisation by the central government under the Law Concerning Special Fiscal Aid for Coping with Disasters.

“We will help everyone get back to a normal life as we encourage [municipalities] to speed up their disaster recovery without fiscal concerns,” Mr Abe said.

The special aid will cover infrastructure reconstruction and support for businesses and farmers among other recovery efforts.

In recent years, such special aid has been provided for recovery work after the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2016 and the rain-caused disaster in southwestern regions in 2017. Rescuers, recovery crews and relief volunteers continued to face sweltering heat as the temperature topped 30C in wide areas of Japan yesterday.