Land minister Ohata visits site of contentious dam project+

OANA_NEWS




TOKYO, Feb. 13 Kyodo -
Land minister Akihiro Ohata on Sunday visited the site of a controversial dam
construction project in eastern Japan which the government is currently
studying whether or not to implement.
After visiting the Yamba Dam construction site in the town of Naganohara in
Gunma Prefecture for the first time since he was appointed land,
infrastructure, transport and tourism minister in mid-January, Ohata met with
Gunma Gov. Masaaki Osawa and other local officials seeking early resumption of
the project, but their talks remained stalemated.
Ohata reiterated the government's stance of making a decision ''without
preconceptions'' on the basis of its current research to be completed around
the fall, but Osawa told him, ''The local people expect the construction
project to be completed as soon as possible.''
Ohata's trip follows one by his predecessor Sumio Mabuchi last November.
Yamba Dam, located north of Tokyo, has been decades in the making, but
Mabuchi's predecessor Seiji Maehara, who is now foreign minister, said in
September 2009 that the Democratic Party of Japan-led government would call off
the project.
Canceling the project, which was among the pledges the DPJ made before taking
power in the general election in August 2009, has been at the center of the
DPJ-led government's drive to scrap dozens of public works projects it
considers wasteful.
But when Mabuchi visited the construction site in November, he effectively
dropped the plan to cancel the project, saying the land ministry will examine
the matter and that a conclusion would be drawn ''around autumn'' of 2011.
Since Ohata took over the ministerial post, he has indicated that he will
follow Mabuchi's basic plan on the matter.
In seeking the resumption of construction work, the local representatives told
Ohata on Sunday that they need to see ''a big advance so we can trust the
central government.''
==Kyodo
2011-02-13 21:36:59