The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito have compiled an outline for a fresh rescue package for Minamata disease patients who have gone officially unrecognized, featuring payment of a lump sum, coalition sources said Tuesday.
An LDP-New Komeito team on the Minamata disease issue, chaired by LDP House of Representatives member Hiroyuki Sonoda, plans to release the package around late August, the sources said.
The lump-sum payment will be the key pillar of the package. The amount will be less than the 2.6 million yen that was paid to patients who reached a political settlement in 1995.