Tokyo citizens groups file petition with metro govt

TOKYO citizens groups have filed an urgent petition with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government calling for it to secure lodgings for those who need to stay over the year-end and New Year holiday season, because rising commodity and utility prices are further limiting their livelihoods, as a result of the coronaviruses epidemic.

The Dec. 2 petition was submitted by 14 groups that were engaged in activities to support the needy in the capital, including Emergency Action for COVID 19 Disaster, Anti-Poverty Network, and Tenohasi, which has run soup kitchens and provided consultations for those people.

The petition asks for the Metropolitan government to: publicize the 50,000 yen about $370 special allowance system for households exempted from residential tax; avoid compelling homeless people applying for welfare benefits to live in free or low-cost housing or other facilities; and stop water supplies for those who are behind on their utility bills.

Many people don't want to go on welfare as they have been introduced to free or low-cost lodging facilities with shared rooms in the past, even though they did not request such accommodation, according to the groups. The cities groups pointed out that there are cases of people living in 10- occupancy rooms at certain lodgings, as well as the names of those facilities, and that the metropolitan government explained that free or low-cost lodgings are provided on the premise of offering private rooms.

Daisaku Seto, secretary-general of Anti-Poverty Network, said: I want the metropolitan government to interview users of those facilities, not just their staff, to understand the true picture on-site and respond to problems. The citizens groups called on the capital to take similar steps this year as the metropolitan government secured hotels for those in need of hotels during the holiday season in 2020 and 2021. The groups urged that the metro government arrange an opportunity for further talks, as officials stopped short of giving a clear-cut answer about this.