Tokyo. Japan has announced a plan to spend an additional 660 million US dollars for the reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged areas.
The Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has said that the funds will be spent on the reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged areas. He announced the new financial assistance after inspecting the earthquake-affected areas on Saturday.
A 7.5 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks on January 1, 2024 devastated parts of the Ishikawa region on the coast of Japan. Due to the earthquake, many buildings and roads were destroyed and there was also a huge fire.
So far, 241 people have been confirmed dead in the quake, more than 10,000 people are taking shelter in camps and hotels, and parts of Ishikawa are still without water service.
“The situation in temporary shelters is improving, but I will keep in mind that the reality is as difficult as before,” Kishida told reporters in the hardest-hit city of Wajima.
“The inspection has ‘reaffirmed the government’s determination to work towards providing more support,'” he said.
Kishida said his cabinet would approve additional spending of about 100 billion yen (US$660 million) from the current fiscal year’s reserve fund in the coming days.
This is the third allocation of emergency funds for recovery efforts from the New Year’s Day earthquake, which is now expected to total more than 260 billion yen ($1.7 billion).
“The latest funds are designed to finance a grant system that helps youth and child-rearing families rebuild their destroyed homes,” Kishida said.
Prime Minister Bishida pledged to accelerate efforts to build prefabricated temporary housing and provide more support for Wajima’s traditional artefact industry.
Government estimates that the earthquake caused 1.1 trillion yen ($7.4 billion) to 2.6 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) in damage in Ishikawa and two neighboring regions.
But this estimate is far less than the 16.9 trillion yen in damage caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
About 18,500 people died or went missing in that disaster. This led to the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.