The central government and the Kariwa Municipal Government paid about 160 million yen more than they should have to build a cultural complex in Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy said Monday.
The complex, which consists of a main building, a tea house, a building for pottery and other facilities, was built on a 22,695-sq.-meter site at a cost of 6.2 billion yen. Most of the cost was footed by the central government, which began subsidizing it in 1995. The Kariwa Municipal Government paid the remaining 500 million yen.
The 5.7 billion yen paid by the central government came from subsidies it gave to local governments that host nuclear power plants in the area to promote acceptance of nuclear-related facilities.
According to the agency, the contractors made changes to the initial construction plan -- some of which were not approved by the Kariwa government -- to cut costs by 160 million yen, but still charged the original amount.
The agency believes that 140 million yen of that was covered by the subsidies from the national government, and an agency official said the government will urge the village to return the funds.