Japan Highway Public Corp. must be legally empowered to make its own decisions on expressway construction and stand on a par with the government when it is privatized in fiscal 2005, new Japan Highway President Takeshi Kondo said Monday.
"I believe it's utterly important (for the government) to properly guarantee the (privatized company's) managerial autonomy by law," Kondo said in an interview with The Japan Times. "If it is not stipulated by law, (the company's autonomy) would be in jeopardy."
Kondo made the remarks in response to the policy mapped out last week by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on reforming the four semigovernmental expressway operators, including Japan Highway.