(Mainichi)
ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido — Documents related to welfare were removed without authorization and disposed of as trash by an employee in charge of public assistance, this city in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido has confirmed.
The Asahikawa Municipal Government announced on Jan. 9 that welfare documents for seven households had been thrown away as garbage together with newspapers and other items.
According to the city, a nearby resident found trash scattered at a collection site on a noncollection day around Jan. 3 and after discovering that it included public documents related to welfare, reported it to the authorities.
The documents consisted of 38 items, including applications for transportation assistance under the Public Assistance Act and receipts attached to them. They contained information such as addresses, names and diagnoses.
The city employee had been working as a case worker since April 2023, but has been on leave since last year. When questioned by the municipal government, the employee explained that they didn’t notice that materials prohibited from being taken outside the city hall had been mixed in with documents they took home before putting them in trash at the end of last year.
Regarding the contents of the documents in question, five cases for three households from November 2024 to January 2025, totaling about 43,000 yen (about $270), had reportedly been unprocessed and unpaid.
The municipal government said there is information on other unpaid cases. It has offered apologies to the seven affected households and is checking whether there was any improper handling involving the approximately 180 households that this employee had been responsible for.
(Japanese original by Nobuyuki Yokota, Asahikawa Bureau)
AloJapan.com