A small Japanese town in the western part of the country has drawn criticism on social media for building a statue of a giant squid using COVID-19 relief funds.
Local officials claimed they built the structure in hopes of boosting tourism to the coastal town.
According to local media reports, the town of Noto in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture was awarded 800 million yen ($7.31 million) by the central government as part of its national coronavirus aid program. The program is aimed at helping struggling local economies that were hit hard by the pandemic.
The award that was given to the town is part of the country's $708 billion stimulus package, which was approved in December of last year. Japan is currently battling a fourth wave of the coronavirus and most of its major urban areas are still in a state of emergency due to rising infections.
The town of Noto is known for its squid, which has been the local delicacy for decades and a part of its heritage as a fishing town. Local officials said the statue was meant to raise awareness about Noto's fishing industry, while also attracting tourists.
Local officials said they only used a small portion of the award they were given to build the statue. Sources said the town used about 30 million yen ($275,000) to build the statue, which is about four meters high and nine meters long.
Officials said the grants provided to Japanese towns and cities did not come with specific stipulations on how they should be spent. While most prefectures have used the money to boost efforts to treat coronavirus patients, towns like Noto, which have a lower rate of infection compared to other areas, have been creative in how they spend the funds.
However, not all people have agreed with how officials have chosen to spend the government grant. Some people criticized the town for "wasting" the funds, which could have gone to cities and prefectures that might have used it better.
"No matter how you look at it, this is wrong. They have to return that money," one user on social media said.
