20% of local gov'ts in Japan have no disaster specialists: survey

Across Japan, 20.5 percent of municipalities have no officials exclusively tasked with handling disaster responses, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday ahead of the 10th anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan.The survey also found that 14.1 percent of respondents have only one official for that particular task, with those in charge of elections, traffic safety and other duties doubling in those roles.The results underscored the need for local governments -- despite a chronic staff shortage at their offices -- to build a system to more effectively…READ FULL ARTICLE