In its manifesto for the 2009 Lower House election, the Democratic Party of Japan called for stopping the construction of the Yanba dam project in Gunma Prefecture as a symbol of wasteful public-works projects.
But a final decision on the project has yet to be made. One of the reasons for the delay is that then land and infrastructure minister Seiji Maehara made a political blunder. On Sept. 17, 2009, the day after the Hatoyama DPJ Cabinet's inauguration, he declared that the government will halt the Yanba dam project, skipping the groundwork to build a consensus with concerned local governments and residents.
After receiving a strong reaction from local governments and residents, the government set up an experts' panel to decide on standards and procedures to examine the need of dam projects. The experts' panel has been examining 83 dam projects, including the Yanba project.