Reclamation work begins at disputed US base
TOKYO: Japan’s central government started main reclamation work at a disputed US military base relocation site on the southern island of Okinawa despite fierce local opposition.
Construction workers yesterday dumped a truckload of sediment and bulldozed it into the sea at Henoko on Okinawa’s east coast to build a runway for a Marine Corps base that will be relocated from densely populated Futenma in the southern part of the island. The central government has reversed Okinawa’s earlier ban on landfill work at the site.
Opponents of the relocation say it would not only be an environmental debacle but also ignore local wishes to remove the base.
“I resent it strongly,” Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki told reporters. “The central government is forcibly dumping the sediment into the sea and it does not even pay the slightest attention to the will of the Okinawan people.”
Tamaki calls the one-sided decision “illegal” and has repeatedly visited Tokyo, urging top officials in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet to postpone the landfill work and engage in dialogue.
Tamaki was in Tokyo on Thursday for talks with Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
Dozens of people in rubber boats protested the move, hoisting placards. “Don’t kill the ocean”, one of the placards said. “No military base needed for Okinawa’s children”, another one read.
Many Okinawans say the pres- ence of so many US troops on the island is already a heavy burden and they want the existing Futenma air station closed and its replacement moved off the island entirely.
Tamaki, who was elected late September on his campaign promises to block the Henoko base and further reduce US bases on the island, also visited Washington and New York last month to gain support for Okinawa from the American public and officials.
Washington’s position remains that the dispute should be resolved between Tokyo and Okinawa.
Officials in Tokyo said the Henoko plan is the only one feasible and they will stick with it despite protests.
“In order to maintain the deterrence of the Japan-US alliance and to remove the risk of the Futenma air station, its relocation to Henoko is the only solution,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters yesterday. He added that the central government will work toward reducing Okinawa’s burden of hosting US troops and gaining understanding and cooperation from residents.
Tetsuro Fukuyama, a senior opposition lawmaker belonging to the Constitutional Democratic Party, criticised Abe’s government for pushing through with the base relocation.
“This is far from democracy,” Fukuyama said. “The Abe government has no compassion for Okinawa, or respect for the rule of law or respect for the will of the people.”