The Tomakomai City Council in Hokkaido held an extraordinary assembly this week where a supplementary budget was passed for a survey assessment of the environmental effects on the candidate site.
As reported by Jiji Tsushin, a budget of JPY18 million for the IR bid-related expenses was passed by majority vote.
The Liberal Democratic Party is hoping the city will conduct the assessment swiftly and move forward with the governor’s decision on whether to proceed with a bid as soon as possible. On the other hand, the opposition was full of doubt at the extraordinary assembly in response to the pressing issue. The resolution was moved by the LDP and passed with 19 in favor and eight opposed, despite the opposition of the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Communist Party.
Tomakomai city is the priority candidate location in case Hokkaido proceeds with an IR bid and Governor Naomichi Suzuki is expected to make a final decision on whether to proceed before the end of the year.