No. 1332 Osaka Expo Must be Canceled as Sole Option
Time shorter than a year-and-a-half is left until the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo. More and more voices are heard, even locally, calling for cancellation of the event because of the expanded financial burden to be publicly owed by Osaka. A communicator of the Generative AI Project managed by the Osaka Prefecture has lately made a retort, saying ‘the exhibition is suspended’, a perplexingly convincing reply to many.
NO THANK YOU FOR PAYING MORE TAX FOR THE MISTAKE!
The Expo will be held for 184 days, beginning on April 13, 2025, but, even as of November 2023, in total 56 countries and areas have not yet requested for construction of pavilions to be hosted by these hopefuls. Due to price hikes and lack of manpower the building activities are left far behind the schedule.
A surprising decision of LDP to lift regulations on overwork!
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) discusses frantically, as it is upset, removal of regulations on working conditions to shorten the period of construction jobs, seeing they will not be completed by the due date.
Originally, the construction cost was calculated as 125 billion yen in 2018, while in 2020, it increased to 185 billion yen, and, as announced October 20 this year, it has surged to 235 billion yen, 1.9 times bigger than the initial estimate. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu did not deny November 8 the three rounds of consecutive cost increases in the meeting of Cabinet Committee of the House of Representatives. Its expenditure is climbing beyond the ceiling.
The construction expenses are to be owed by the state government, Osaka City and the business sector. But even the government told to ‘examine more accurately’, referring to the recent announcement of surging cost.
However, the government kept saying ‘under examination’ during the Budget Committee meeting of the Extraordinary Diet Session, responding to questions from the opposition parties. On the following day, the government told to approve full payment for the increase because there was no other choice. It is shameful. For whom the Expo will be held? Doubts are being raised day by day.
Why is Yumeshima the site?
Yumeshima is an artificial island by reclaiming industrial waste materials. Many have pointed out its poor environment and soft-ground basis. In an area planned to be used as the event site, PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyl, is found, methane gas remains, and dozens of chimneys work to exhaust the gas out to the open air. The Osaka Metro subway line is being extended to get access to the venue and stations are being built, but the jobs are hard due to soft and weak soil foundation.
Yumeshima is a garbage disposal site for final processing. Why is it selected? It is because top politicians of Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, namely, Hashimoto Toru, Matsui Ichiro and Yoshimura Hirofumi, who belong to the Ishin Party (=Renovation Party), foresee development of the island as a location of an IR (Integrated Resort) Plan, which include casinos, taking advantage of hosting the international exhibition to make up the island to be the basis.
As for the ground work for a purpose of IR facilities, it requests business entities to pay for, meanwhile as for infrastructure for the Expo purpose, public fund can be available. The Ishin Party has worked vigorously to attract businesses to join the IR projects as the prefecture and the city approved to pay 79 billion yen for the soil improvement works, though it had said that no public fund could be available. The Osaka authorities provide businesses interested in the IR with favorable conditions.
Another public money payment will be made
There will be a necessity of a new public spending if some unexpected underground objects are detected. That means tax money will be spent to cover failures caused by the Expo and the IR on one hand, and mistakes made by the LDP and the Osaka Ishin on the other. For whom will the Expo be held?
開幕まで１年半を切った大阪・関西万博、膨れ上がる公費負担に地元大阪でも「中止」の声が日増しに高まっている。大阪府が運営する「生成ＡＩ」も、「中止になった」と「迷回答」する始末だ。
２０２５年４月13日から１８４日間にわたって予定されている万博は、未だに56の国・地域が建てる外国パビリオンの建設申請がほとんどなく、物価高騰と人手不足で建設も大幅に遅れている。
残業規制の撤廃⁉
開会に間に合わないと慌てた自民党から、工期短縮のため残業規制の除外など暴論が出る始末。
会場建設費は当初２０１８年の１２５０億円が、20年には１８５０億円に、今回（10月20日公表）は２３５０億円と当初から約１・９倍に膨れ上がった。松野博一官房長官は、11月８日の衆院内閣委で３度目の増額を否定しなかった。もはや天井知らずだ。
建設費は、国・大阪市・経済界の３等分負担となっているが、今回の増額については、さすがに政府も「精査する」と言明していた。
しかし、開会中の臨時国会予算委で野党の追及にも「精査中」との答弁に終始、予算委が終わった翌日、「止むを得ない」と増額案の満額受入れを表明する醜態だ。誰のための万博か、日に日に疑問の声が高まる。
なぜ夢洲が会場か
会場の夢洲は、もともと産業廃棄物などで埋立てた人工島で、悪環境・軟弱地盤であることが指摘されてきた。予定地の一画では未だにＰＣＢが残り、メタンガスが充満し、ガス対策に何十本もの煙突で地上に放出している。会場へのアクセスとなる大阪メトロの延伸や、駅の建設工事も軟弱地盤で難航している。
ゴミの最終処分場の夢洲が、なぜ会場なのか。それは、大阪府・市のトップ（維新の橋下徹・松井一郎・吉村洋文の３氏）には万博を名目に夢洲の基盤を整備し、その先にカジノを含む統合リゾート（ＩＲ） 開業が見えていたからだ。
ＩＲ関連の地盤整備は事業者負担だが、万博名目のインフラ整備なら公費が使える。維新は、ＩＲに公費負担がないと言って誘致をぶち上げ突っ走ってきたが、ＩＲ事業者には甘く、土壌対策費約７９０億円の負担を承諾している。
新たな公費負担も
今後、想定外の地中埋設物など見つかったら新たな公費負担の可能性もある。万博とＩＲ、自民党と大阪維新の二人三脚の尻拭いに血税がつぎ込まれるのだ。誰のための万博なのか。中止しかない。
英訳版↓
No. 1332 Osaka Expo Must be Canceled as Sole Option
Time shorter than a year-and-a-half is left until the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo. More and more voices are heard, even locally, calling for cancellation of the event because of the expanded financial burden to be publicly owed by Osaka. A communicator of the Generative AI Project managed by the Osaka Prefecture has lately made a retort, saying ‘the exhibition is suspended’, a perplexingly convincing reply to many.
NO THANK YOU FOR PAYING MORE TAX FOR THE MISTAKE!
The Expo will be held for 184 days, beginning on April 13, 2025, but, even as of November 2023, in total 56 countries and areas have not yet requested for construction of pavilions to be hosted by these hopefuls. Due to price hikes and lack of manpower the building activities are left far behind the schedule.
A surprising decision of LDP to lift regulations on overwork!
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) discusses frantically, as it is upset, removal of regulations on working conditions to shorten the period of construction jobs, seeing they will not be completed by the due date.
Originally, the construction cost was calculated as 125 billion yen in 2018, while in 2020, it increased to 185 billion yen, and, as announced October 20 this year, it has surged to 235 billion yen, 1.9 times bigger than the initial estimate. Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu did not deny November 8 the three rounds of consecutive cost increases in the meeting of Cabinet Committee of the House of Representatives. Its expenditure is climbing beyond the ceiling.
The construction expenses are to be owed by the state government, Osaka City and the business sector. But even the government told to ‘examine more accurately’, referring to the recent announcement of surging cost.
However, the government kept saying ‘under examination’ during the Budget Committee meeting of the Extraordinary Diet Session, responding to questions from the opposition parties. On the following day, the government told to approve full payment for the increase because there was no other choice. It is shameful. For whom the Expo will be held? Doubts are being raised day by day.
Why is Yumeshima the site?
Yumeshima is an artificial island by reclaiming industrial waste materials. Many have pointed out its poor environment and soft-ground basis. In an area planned to be used as the event site, PCB, or polychlorinated biphenyl, is found, methane gas remains, and dozens of chimneys work to exhaust the gas out to the open air. The Osaka Metro subway line is being extended to get access to the venue and stations are being built, but the jobs are hard due to soft and weak soil foundation.
Yumeshima is a garbage disposal site for final processing. Why is it selected? It is because top politicians of Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, namely, Hashimoto Toru, Matsui Ichiro and Yoshimura Hirofumi, who belong to the Ishin Party (=Renovation Party), foresee development of the island as a location of an IR (Integrated Resort) Plan, which include casinos, taking advantage of hosting the international exhibition to make up the island to be the basis.
As for the ground work for a purpose of IR facilities, it requests business entities to pay for, meanwhile as for infrastructure for the Expo purpose, public fund can be available. The Ishin Party has worked vigorously to attract businesses to join the IR projects as the prefecture and the city approved to pay 79 billion yen for the soil improvement works, though it had said that no public fund could be available. The Osaka authorities provide businesses interested in the IR with favorable conditions.
Another public money payment will be made
There will be a necessity of a new public spending if some unexpected underground objects are detected. That means tax money will be spent to cover failures caused by the Expo and the IR on one hand, and mistakes made by the LDP and the Osaka Ishin on the other. For whom will the Expo be held?
The sole way is to give up the Expo.
November 22, 2023