Red Cross aid hasn't reached Japan quake victims

Don't think this isn't typical in Japan. For example there is generous social welfare program yet when those in need apply they are often discouraged from doing so because they are told they would be a burden on society. When reapplying the pressure is increased on the applicant to refuse any relief.
The relief organization has distributed none of the $1 billion it has collected. The chief Cabinet secretary says the process must be streamlined.

Japan's Red Cross has collected more than $1 billion in the first three weeks after the massive earthquake and tsunami but has yet to distribute any funds directly to victims, prompting Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano to urge Sunday that the process be accelerated.

The Red Cross has dispatched more than 200 emergency relief teams to the disaster zone and organized thousands of volunteers to assist victims. But no displaced people have received cash handouts from the pot of 870 billion yen collected by the Japanese Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Central Community Chest of Japan.

In past disasters, independent panels in each prefecture have determined who gets such handouts and how much they get. Edano suggested that this time, the process must be streamlined.

"Normally donations are disbursed through local governments that rely on independent committees to decide on the conditions for dividing up the money," Edano said. "But this time, the central government has a role to play in setting up an independent committee" that will figure out how to split up donations.