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Gov't drafts barrier-free bill toughening fines for lawbreakers+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, Feb. 18_(Kyodo) _ The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has drafted a new bill to promote building barrier-free communities with a view to toughen measures against those who do not follow official standards, ministry sources said Saturday. The bill comes in light of revelations that budget hotel chain operator Toyoko Inn Co. modified some of its facilities by illegally removing facilities for the disabled and turning the space into guest rooms and conference rooms. The ministry is hoping to submit the bill for approval to the ongoing regular Diet session scheduled to run until mid-June and to have the new law take effect within half a year after its enactment, the sources said. The bill for promoting the smooth movement of the elderly and the disabled will increase the maximum fine to which those who do not obey local governments' orders to improve their facilities would be subject from 1 million yen under an existing law to 3 million yen, they said. The ministry apparently came up with the figure after considering that the maximum fine for violating the building standards law is likely to be increased to 3 million yen over the scandal involving buildings designed with substandard earthquake resistance. The new bill is meant to unify two existing laws that call for making buildings such as hospitals and hotels as well as public transportation facilities barrier-free, and will also urge disability improvements to be made to broader parts of communities such as roads and parks, the sources said. The bill, if passed, would have local governments designate initial areas that are to be made barrier-free, such as train stations and their immediate surroundings, listen to the views of residents, and come up with a basic scheme including improvement projects, they said. Those who build new facilities would be obliged to meet standards, including eliminating some steps, installing elevators and securing paths for wheelchair users, while those who manage existing facilities would be required to make efforts to meet the respective standards. |