A city council group made up of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members is stating that a referendum should be held regarding local citizens’ support for an IR bid, due to the high expenses. The group plans to submit a public referendum ordinance proposal at this month’s council meeting.
However, Osaka city council’s majority party, Osaka Ishin (Innovation Party), opposes a referendum. The Komeito council group also expressed opposition to a referendum at its monthly meeting and the ordinance is not expected to pass.
As part of Osaka prefecture/city’s pending IR bid, it was decided in December that the city would bear JPY 79 billion (US$687 million) in expenses for measures against soil pollution and liquefaction.
The LDP city council group announced that it plans to submit a referendum ordinance proposal at the regular city council assembly that will start this month, claiming that the local citizens should be consulted regarding the massive cost to the city.
According to NHK, at the city council’s special committee meeting held on 2 February, Chief Secretary Taeko Kitano posed the question, “What will the cost be for soil improvement in the event of developing the land on Yumeshima that is not planned for IR?”
In response, the city representative admitted that the tentative estimate “for measures against soil pollution and liquefaction in the event of building for a Global Tourism Hub in addition to the proposed IR site, as the city plans to do for the adjacent land south of the site, would be a total of JPY 157.8 billion (US$1.37 billion), which includes the JPY 79 billion spent so far.”
The initial investment for an Osaka IR is estimated at JPY 1.08 trillion (US$9.4 billion), with a consortium led by MGM Resorts and Orix Corp – selected last year as Osaka’s preferred operator partner – expected to implement a 50/50 cost to debt ratio.
Other consortium members include Kansai Electric Power, Panasonic, Kintetsu Group Holdings and NTT West.
The regional development plan for IR is to be approved by both the Osaka prefectural assembly and city council around March, in time for the 28 April submission deadline to the central government.
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