Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Saturday his government will additionally allocate around 100 billion yen ($665 million) to the reconstruction of the Noto Peninsula following the earthquake that rocked central Japan on New Year's Day.
The emergency spending from reserve funds under the fiscal 2023 budget will finance measures such as expanding the scope of relief payments providing up to 6 million yen per household to cover youth and families raising children, Kishida told reporters following his second official visit to areas devastated by the magnitude-7.6 quake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture.
The funds will be also used to construct temporary workshops in April to support local traditional industries, he said.
It marks the third time reserve funds have been allocated to recovery efforts for the earthquake, with the combined amount now totaling over 260 billion yen. The additional allocation is expected to be approved by the Cabinet in the coming days.
Those newly eligible for relief payments include households whose homes were partially or totally destroyed and who are having difficulty borrowing.
Kishida also said that the construction of prefabricated temporary housing will be accelerated, and that the government will provide support for the reconstruction of the Wajima morning market, which was gutted by a fire caused by the quake, in cooperation with the state-linked developer Urban Renaissance Agency.
Traditional industries such as Wajima lacquerware will be supported through the construction of temporary workshops, subsidies of up to 1.5 billion yen for repairs of facilities and production machinery, and a fund to cover the procurement of tools and raw materials, he said.
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