60% of recovery from heavy rain in western Japan "Corona is a hindrance" 7:03 July 3rd, Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City
According to NHK 100 I found out from a hearing survey that I went to some offices.
Approximately 30% of the area of Mabi-machi, Kurashiki city was flooded by the heavy rains of western Japan, and 501 business sites were damaged by a local business and industry survey.
By the end of last month, 416 locations, which account for more than 80%, have resumed operations in Mabi-cho, and the town has gradually regained its liveliness.
Under such circumstances, NHK conducted an interview survey with 100 small and medium-sized business offices that reopened in the town last month in order to find out what kind of influence the spread of the new coronavirus has had.
As a result, 62 business sites answered that reconstruction was hindered by the effects of the new coronavirus.
When asked about the factors that are hindering reconstruction, we found that 49 business establishments accounted for 80% of the number of business establishments that answered "the effect of sales due to the stoppage of the flow of goods and people". , "Impact of cancellation of events and reduction of demand due to self-restraint" were 8 places, and "Impact on cash flow" was 2 places.
Some of the offices in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City have finally rebuilt their stores almost two years after the disaster, and have finally started full-scale operation.
As soon as we began to move toward full-scale reconstruction, the new difficulty of spreading infection stood up, and the actual situation that is hindering economic reconstruction is highlighted.
The reopening of an izakaya has a double urge to repay the loan
Among the businesses affected by the disaster in Mabi-machi, Kurashiki City, many people are worried about the decrease in sales due to the spread of infection, and the repayment of loans borrowed to rebuild stores etc. will soon begin, and two difficulties are standing up. I will.
Taro Nakayama (48) has been operating an izakaya in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City since 22 years ago. Due to the heavy rain in western Japan, the store was flooded to a height of about 2 meters.
I borrowed about 9 million yen, bought a new refrigerator and gas stove, repaired the walls and ceiling, and in December I was able to reopen the store in its original location. One year after the resumption, sales returned to a level close to the level before the heavy rain, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, all reservations were canceled, so the sales in April were about 3 minutes before the infection spread. It has fallen to around 1,270,000 yen.
Under these circumstances, Mr. Nakayama is now worried about the repayment of 9 million yen that he borrowed when he reopened the store after a heavy rain.
About 4 million yen out of debt can be covered by group subsidies, but the remaining about 5 million yen must be repaid on its own.
Mr. Nakayama who used the system where the repayment of the principal was suspended for two years. Three months later, from October, you will have to repay approximately 50,000 yen each month. A fixed cost of about 200,000 yen, such as utility costs and labor costs, will result in a profit of about 70,000 yen if sales cannot be restored. When the repayment of 50,000 yen a month begins, he says that he will have to withdraw his savings to purchase the ingredients.
Mr. Nakayama said, "We have restarted with "for the reconstruction of Mabi-cho", but if this situation continues for another half a year, management will be difficult. When I receive a loan, I do not think that such a situation will occur in two years. It's tough that the repayment will start, but I can't help but endure it."
Immediately after full-scale reopening of the beauty salon, Corona
Some of the disaster-affected business sites in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City have only recently begun a full-scale reopening, and at that timing I am suffering from the effects of the new coronavirus.
Kata Hata (48) has been running a beauty salon in Mabi-cho, Kurashiki City since 23 years ago. Due to the heavy rain in western Japan, the store that doubled as a home was flooded to the height of the chest on the second floor, completely destroyed, and had to be dismantled.
While purchasing a container and operating it as a temporary store from March last year, we rebuilt the store by receiving a loan of about 20 million yen from a financial institution, and finally, on April 1, it was a full-scale operation at the original place. I have reached the point where it can be restarted.
However, soon after that, the spread of the new coronavirus will put us in a difficult situation.
Mr. Hata, who expects that sales will increase to about one-third of the amount before the torrential rain in March, when sales are increasing due to graduation ceremony, etc. However, due to the spread of infection such as the declaration of emergency, almost no reservations were booked, and sales in April, which should be in high demand at the entrance ceremony, did not grow as much as I expected.
After the declaration of emergency was lifted, the number of customers returned little by little, and we decided to apply for a national subsidy to purchase more air by pursuing measures to prevent infection in the store to increase sales as much as possible. I decided to.
Mr. Hata said, "I've been trying hard to make Mabi-cho a little better, but I couldn't imagine that this would happen. The flood control work in Mabi-cho is still ahead, and the spread of infection is ending. I can't see it, so I'm in a difficult situation, but I have no choice but to do my best."
Repaid grace Most are limited to 2 years
Many businesses whose stores and facilities have been damaged by the heavy rains in Western Japan use loans provided by local governments and government-affiliated financial institutions for disaster-affected businesses.
We were able to receive loans at relatively low interest rates to cover capital investment and working capital. As of the end of May, the Okayama system had a total of 500 uses and the Kurashiki city had a total of 202 uses. about it.
Such a loan system has a mechanism that allows the repayment of the principal to be suspended for a certain period of time for companies who find it difficult to start repayment immediately.In the case of the Okayama prefecture and Kurashiki city systems, both grace periods have an upper limit. 2 years.
Loans from government-affiliated financial institutions often have a maximum grace period of two years.
According to the person in charge of the prefecture, smaller businesses with weaker physical strength tend to demand repayment grace, and many small businesses that received a loan immediately after a heavy rain in western Japan and chose grace for repayment for two years at that time People will be forced to start repayment in the future as the spread of infection continues.