TOKYO, Aug 18 (Kyodo/APP): Nearly half of municipalities across Japan say evacuation shelters they are preparing do not meet government guidelines on the required number of toilets or minimum living space per person, a recent Kyodo News survey showed, citing budget and capacity constraints.

The survey findings highlight the urgent need for the central and local governments in quake-prone Japan to make further efforts in this area, as inadequate shelter conditions could even prove fatal.

In December, the Japanese government revised its evacuation shelter guidelines to align with the internationally recognized Sphere standard for humanitarian response.

The government recommends at least 3.5 square meters of living space per person and one toilet for every 50 evacuees in the initial stage of a disaster.

The questionnaire, conducted in June and July and answered by 96 percent of the heads of 1,741 cities, wards, towns and villages involved in shelter operations, found that 49 percent fell short on both standards.

Regarding insufficient toilets, 8 percent said they plan to meet the standard within a certain timeframe, while only 2 percent said the same for living space.

Those reporting no set timeline to meet the standards or finding it difficult to do so in the future totaled 40 percent for toilets and 47 percent for living space.

The most commonly cited barriers to increasing toilets, with multiple responses allowed, were “difficulties in securing budgets” and “challenges in finding space to store or use in normal times,” both at 58 percent, followed by “lack of staff and management know-how” at 13 percent.

For space-related issues, 50 percent said, despite securing enough evacuation shelters, each was not large enough to provide the minimum required space per person, while 32 percent said they did not have enough shelters for the projected number of evacuees.