Japan parties say evacuees should be housed by end May: reports

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government should aim to move evacuees from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami into temporary housing by the end of May, according to emergency measures proposed by a working-level group of officials from the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition, Japanese media reported on Tuesday.

The government must cooperate with local authorities to secure safe property on high ground to this end, and potentially use public housing and government funds, the proposals said.

An extra budget for this fiscal year is urgently needed, and the government must also enact laws to facilitate the nation's recovery, and set up a body to lead the recovery in a bipartisan effort, they said.

The proposals will be made at meetings of party leaders as early as Wednesday, then finalized and put to the government, Jiji and Kyodo news agencies reported.

The devastating quake and tsunami heavily damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, forcing the government to create a 20-km (12 miles) evacuation zone around the site. More than 27,500 are dead or missing after the disaster, which also has put 166,327 people in evacuation centers, according to data from the National Police Agency late on Monday.

The proposals said all nuclear plants in Japan should undergo checks to determine whether emergency cooling systems are in working condition, and have procedures in place to stabilize spend nuclear fuel.

(Reporting by Chizu Nomiyama; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)