The three ruling parties have adopted a set of four criteria for deciding whether to scrap or suspend ongoing public works projects as part of a plan to make Japan's huge construction budgets more effective, according to coalition officials.
One criterion calls for scrapping projects that have not yet commenced despite the passage of five years or more since the government set aside an initial outlay for them in the state budget.
Another calls for scrapping projects that remain unfinished despite the passage of 20 years or more since they were initially scheduled to be completed.