Local government chiefs in favor of privatizing postal services outnumber those who oppose it, according to a recent survey by Kyodo News and its member newspaper publishers nationwide.
But the survey also showed a region-based disparity, with local government heads in urban areas supporting the planned privatization with the hope that costs will go down and services will improve and those in in rural areas opposing it on concerns of paying more to receive the same services.
According to the survey, 1,238 local government leaders, or 38.1 percent of those polled, are in favor of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to privatize three postal service operations -- mail, postal savings and insurance.