The Upper House passed key pieces of legislation into law Monday, one establishing a new disaster management agency to centralize the government¡¯s response during natural disasters and the others aimed at curbing the spread of election-related misinformation and defamation on social media and the internet.
The new agency will be placed under the Cabinet. It will be officially headed by the prime minister but overseen by a new minister of disaster management. The law gives the disaster management minister the authority to issue recommendations to relevant ministries and agencies after an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption.
The new agency, with 352 staff members, will also work to improve living conditions in evacuation shelters through the procurement and stockpiling of bathroom and kitchen facilities, while also facilitating the installation of partition walls in shelters to improve privacy.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.