Six governors rally to defend dam

MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) Six governors from the Kanto region visited the Yamba Dam construction site in Naganohara, Gunma Prefecture, on Monday to demand that the government cancel plans to scrap the controversial, decades-in-the-making project.

The governors of Tokyo, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama and Chiba issued a joint statement calling on the Democratic Party of Japan to actually build the dam.

It is the first time the six governors of prefectures shouldering part of the project's cost have visited the site, which dates to the 1950s, at the same time, according to the Gunma Prefectural Government.

The visit, which came at the initiative of Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, was a show of solidarity to continue the project, for which work on the dam itself has yet to be started.

"Disasters triggered by abnormal weather occur frequently. It is absolutely necessary to construct the dam for the purposes of utilizing water and flood control," Ishihara said as he met with Naganohara Mayor Kinya Takayama and other local officials.

They also visited the Kawarayu hot springs resort area that will be submerged if the dam is built, and exchanged opinions with local people.

"If (the government) cannot offer a solution that can satisfy everyone (in the area), we should say the (DPJ's election platform was flawed)," Saitama Gov. Kiyoshi Ueda said during a meeting with residents around the construction site.

" (Infrastructure) minister (Seiji) Maehara should come to our prefectures to offer an explanation," he said.

Following the launch of the DPJ-led government in mid-September, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has canceled the bidding process for the dam's main structure, whose construction had been planned to start in October for completion in fiscal 2015.

During the campaign for the Aug. 30 Lower House election, the DPJ promised it would kill "wasteful" government spending, most notably for public work projects. The Yamba Dam, championed by the Liberal Democratic Party, was one of the projects that the DPJ pledged to end.

Hoping the government will retract its decision to cancel the project, officials of the six prefectures agreed at a gathering in the Saitama prefectural office in September to share information.