City officials vacation on taxpayers

AOMORI (Kyodo) The municipal government of Aomori admitted Monday it has provided grant money from public funds for officials to take private trips, including family vacations to Tokyo Disneyland, since fiscal 2001.

The amount of the grants between fiscal 2004 and 2008 totaled around ¥80 million, it said.

Grants of up to ¥50,000 through fiscal 2005 and up to ¥25,000 since then have been disbursed through a mutual aid group for trips to Tokyo Disneyland, Hokkaido and other places.

"I don't think the city residents would approve of this practice," Mayor Hiroshi Shikanai said. "We will review it."

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has asked the Aomori government to review the practice of providing public funds to the mutual aid group.