Japan goes ahead with US base relocation work despite opposition

ISTANBUL

Despite opposition from the natives and the provincial governorate, the Japanese government Thursday greenlighted landfill work to relocate a US military base.

Tokyo’s decision to approve a modified landfill plan to relocate a key US military base within the Okinawa province follows a court order.

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki ignored a court order issued early this month to approve the plan, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

Calling the government's move ahead without provincial authorities "unacceptable," Tamaki said: "It is not just an issue for Okinawa Prefecture."

Such a move "robs" the provincial government "of its administrative authority and means they are trying to construct a new base by infringing on our autonomy and independence," he added.

The landfill process to relocate the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma will start as early as Jan. 12, it added.

“The approval is a milestone for the total transfer of the Futenma air base as early as possible,” Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters.

Locals of the province, however, have opposed the relocation plans of the US air base to Nago area in Henoko after an agreement was reached in 1996. They want it altogether moved out of the province.

Okinawa hosts majority of the US military facilities in Japan.

Around 50,000 US soldiers are deployed in Japan under a bilateral defense pact since the end of World War II in 1945.

Currently, the US base is located in a crowded residential district in Ginowan and Tokyo wants it be shifted to less populated Henoko coastal area of Nago.

The government has planned to reclaim land off Henoko to construct two V-shaped runways for the use of US military.

Part of landfill work, which started in 2018, has been completed in the southern part of Henoko.

However, the Defense Ministry sought design changes in Oura Bay due to soft ground in 2020 and the work on the larger portion of the new site was stalled as local authorities did not approve the new plan amid opposition by local residents.