住民のため・Putting the people first
行政の役割が住民の生活がよくなる様に住民の税金を上手く使うことだと思います。これは短期、中期、長期、緊急時、様々な観点で政策を考えなければいけないから大変な作業です。 でも、時には全く考えなくても回答が出る事業もあります。 全国の河川敷が基本的には年2回の草刈りで維持管理されており、写真のような状態になっています。年間費用はm2当たり30円前後です。ゴミの不法投棄、景観の悪さ、使い勝手の悪さ等、いろんな観点であまりよくないのは一目瞭然です。 この川の対岸の河川敷は次の写真の状態です。 全体像は 年間維持管理費用がm2当たり15円前後ですがもっと広い面積にした場合は費用が5円前後まで下げることが出来ます。この芝生を視察された日本サッカー協会の川淵キャプテンが「どうして国交省が飛びついて来ないですか」とごく素直で当たり前の質問をされたのは昨日の様に覚えています。 飛びつくところ、昨日は国交省の鳥取事務所から予算削減のためこの場所だけではなく河川敷の平の部分全体に渡り今までも年2回の草刈りも止める方針を言い渡されました。住民が喜び、景観がよくなり、ゴミ等の問題も無く費用を80%削減出来る手法を目の当たりにしながらも「金がないから止める」と今よりも悪い状態になる手法を導入するとは余りにも行政の責任放棄に感じてしょうがないです。 友人から「血圧を上げるな」を今朝言われたけど、こういうことされて上がらない訳が無いだろう。 The role of government is to collect taxes from the residents and use these taxes to improve the standard of living. Given that the government must consider short-term, medium-term, long-term, emergencies, etc, this is no easy task. Sometimes, there's a case that needs no time at all to work out the correct answer. This is a typical riverbank here in Japan, where the government has the grass cut twice a year at an average cost of ¥30/m2. It is blindingly obvious that this invites rubbish, is not even remotely attractive, actively discourages use by local residents, etc. etc. This is a site on the opposite bank. And a wider-angle view. The cost of maintaining this area is around ¥15/m2, but calculations show that this can be brought down to ¥5/m2 with a larger area. I remember clearly being asked by the Honorary Chairman of the Japan Football Association, on visiting this site late last year, the totally natural question of why the Ministry of Lands and Transportation (MLT) has not snapped this up as a new standard for riverbank management. Far from snapping it up, when I rang the local office of the MLT to confirm details of the contract for the new fiscal year, I was informed that due to budget constraints, they would not be renewing the contract, not only for the area that we were looking after but also for the rest of the riverbank areas under their management currently being cut twice a year. To implement a new management system even worse than the present one despite having been shown a new method that produces a wide range of benefits including happy residents, a more attractive environment, and less rubbish seems to me to be a gross neglect of the government's responsibility. A good friend advised me this morning not to let my blood pressure rise but faced with sheer idiocy such as this, higher blood pressure is inevitable.