Senior officials of the ruling coalition agreed Friday to abandon plans for about 250 public works projects nationwide, including a plan to build a dam with flood gates across the Yoshino River, Tokushima Prefecture, coalition sources said.
They also agreed to suspend a land reclamation project for Lake Nakaumi, Shimane Prefecture.
The lawmakers, from the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, also decided to identify about 20 of the 250 projects that are to be canceled on Monday, after delivering the details of the plan to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
The names of the remaining projects will be withheld for the time being in an effort to prevent those who have vested interests from stepping up lobbying activities, the sources said.
Abandoning the 250 schemes -- far more than the ruling coalition's initial goal -- will save 2.8 trillion yen in taxpayers' money.
The lawmakers also decided to draw up a law that would enable the government to abandon public works projects even after construction has started. LDP policy chief Shizuka Kamei met with Tokushima Gov. Toshio Endo earlier Friday to discuss the fate of the Yoshino dam project.
Endo repeated his request that the project go ahead, but Kamei answered that the final decision will be delivered on Monday.