Entity managing near-empty car lots to be axed

Under pressure to speed road-related reform, the transport ministry plans to dissolve a bloated entity that manages 14 public parking lots.

The lots, located under highways, cost about 99.5 billion yen in road-specific taxes to build--but have much empty space most of the time.

The Japan Parking Facilities Promotion Organization (JPO) will be one of two foundations under the ministry's jurisdiction to be dissolved in fiscal 2009, transport minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba said Friday.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism also plans to halve the number of 50 road-related public interest entities within a few years, Fuyushiba added.

The entities get at least 5 million yen a year out of a special account for road construction.

The plan is a result of a review of the entities by a reform panel set up Feb. 22 as extension of higher road-specific taxes has become the focus of intense Diet debate.

The panel was to release its report in June, but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pushed up the deadline to April following revelations on questionable spending at such entities.

Fuyushiba on Friday released some early results concerning changes for which consensus had already been reached within the ministry.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the government and ruling coalition will overhaul the entire road-specific tax revenue budget.

The 50 entities received 67.3 billion yen from the special account in fiscal 2006, which equaled a mere 2 percent of all annual road-specific tax revenues of 3.5 trillion yen.

Fuyushiba said the JPO will withdraw from all its operations by fiscal 2009. The operations will be commissioned to the private sector.

The other entity to be axed, the Japan Bridge Engineering Center (JBEC), has been under fire for taking on lucrative free contracts for research on mostly unfeasible projects.

Its research on bridges across sea channels will be dropped. The JBEC will be disbanded after its remaining operations are merged into another entity.

The total of 50 entities will be cut in half via integration, abolition and privatization, Fuyushiba said.

He said the ministry has also ordered executives at an entity assisting land acquisition to repay out of their own pockets about half of some 20.8 million yen it spent on employee travel expenses.(IHT/Asahi: March 10,2008)