Monday, June 6, 2011

More than ¥169 billion in relief money donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society and the Central Community Chest of Japan has not yet been distributed by the two aid bodies, their officials said Sunday.

Of the ¥251.3 billion collected by the two groups as of Thursday, only ¥82.2 billion, about a third, has been sent to 15 prefectures damaged by the disaster because the committee that decides how the money is to be allocated overestimated the scope of the damage amid the confusion of the calamity.

The committee, which involves such entities as the Red Cross Society and the 15 prefectural governments and keeps its secretariat at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, is expected to decide Monday on a new set of benchmarks for distributing the cash.

Of the relief money already distributed, the amount actually handed to disaster survivors had come to only ¥28.7 billion as of Thursday. This is partly because of delays in the issuance of disaster certificates and in the confirmation of family registration at staff-short local offices that would have trouble handling the money anyway.

At its inaugural meeting on April 8, the committee estimated that the total amount of relief money would reach at least ¥210 billion because it had already received about ¥130 billion by then.

After making an estimation on total disaster damage in the 15 prefectures, the panel calculated that given the expected relief money, ¥350,000 will be distributed for every person dead or missing and that the same amount will be provided to each household within a 30-km radius of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant ravaged by the disaster.

Relief money of ¥350,000 will also be given for each house destroyed and ¥180,000 for each house partially damaged.

In accordance with these benchmarks, the affected prefectures requested relief money equivalent to its level of damage. Of the three heavily hit northeastern prefectures, Iwate received ¥10.1 billion, Miyagi ¥33.1 billion and Fukushima ¥35 billion from the two bodies.

Based on new information on damage gained since, Iwate has said it will ask for several hundred million yen more, Miyagi about ¥15 billion and Fukushima up to an additional ¥7 billion under the current benchmarks. The total, including relief money requested by the other prefectures, is expected to fall far short of the committee's estimate.

"It probably turns out that the approximation (of the extent of the disaster) may have been too large, but as of April, it was hard to see the scale of damage and we had no choice," an official at the Japanese Red Cross Society said.

"When the new benchmarks are decided on, we hope to promptly remit the money in response to requests," the official said.

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