Japan's Cabinet supports bill to create reconstruction bureau

Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday approved legislation to establish an office to supervise reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The bureau will coordinate budget allocations to local regions, formulate reconstruction plans and methodology and be centered in the capital of the hardest hit areas, including Morioka of Iwate prefecture, Sendai in Miyagi and Fukushima city in Fukushima prefecture. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will be the bureau titular head, but daily operations will be run by the reconstruction minister who will have the power to recommend action to be taken by other ministers and have the authority to ask the prime minister directly to fast-track decisions. Other senior ministers will comprise the bureau's top officials. The legislation is likely to be passed in parliament during the current extraordinary session, with the bureau expected to be set up by April 1 and catered to by the bill through March 2021.