The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry on Wednesday announced a budget request of 7.918 trillion yen for fiscal 2002.

Amid mounting public criticism of government spending on projects in rural areas, the ministry said the money would be spent with the emphasis on urban infrastructure.

The ministry is expected to face a fierce battle over funding by the end of the year, as the Cabinet Office has already announced it wants a 10 percent cut in public works funding. Public works totaled 10.4 trillion yen in fiscal 2001.

Of the request, 5.23 trillion yen, about 67 percent, is earmarked for seven priority sectors designated under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reform program.

The seven priority sectors are urban development, environmental improvement, providing for the aging society, revitalizing regional cities and towns, science and technology projects, education and human resources development, and information technology.

The ministry increased requests for urban projects by 23 percent to 550 billion yen. Requests for airport construction in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya were increased by 26.8 percent from 200.9 billion yen to 254.7 billion yen.

The ministry was also forced to trim budget requests for toll road construction by 7 percent to 479.1 billion yen, faced with harsh public criticism over a number of unprofitable expressway projects.