Staff writer
KOBE -- Plans to formulate a disaster relief bill are running out of time. With only about two months before the close of the current Diet session, it is likely that a citizens-backed bill will have to be combined with a Liberal Democratic Party proposal to enable the legislature to forge a law on the issue before the Upper House election in July, according to leaders of a citizens' group.
Such was the message delivered to nearly 60 people who gathered last Saturday for a symposium and update on efforts by the group to have a comprehensive natural disaster relief bill passed by the Diet. Led by noted author Makoto Oda and local activist Ayako Nakajima, the group, in conjunction with some Diet members, has been pushing for legislation that would provide financial assistance to both survivors of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and of future disasters.