Nago's new U.S. base will destroy coral reef

A Japanese government plan to construct a state-of-the-art U.S. Marine
Corps air base in Nago City in Okinawa is facing opposition by residents due
to engineering methods and an the site chosen, as well as due to the grave
damage the base would cause to the natural environment.

Regarding the new base to be built in the Henoko district of Nago, most
adjacent to the base site, Akahata of November 29 said:

The central government last June offered Nago citizens 8 plans including
three engineering methods and requested them to select any within this year.
But, any of the methods will inevitably harm a rare species of dugongs and
the seaweed bed.

The three methods are: (1) a pier method sustained by many props; (2) a
pontoon method; and (3) a reclamation method. Added by three sites of
within, on, or outside the reef, they make up the eight plans.

Every new base plan supposedly calls for a civil-military co-use. The
size is 2,700 meters long, 730 meters wide, totaling 200 hectares. The cost
for construction ranges from 140 billion yen to 1 trillion yen.

The size proposed greatly exceeds the size proposed by the 1997
government plan (1,500 meter-600 meter-90 ha.), which was rejected by Nago's
referendum in 1997.

The government has now actually withdrawn its promise to make utmost
efforts to evade damage to the coral reef and seaweed ecology by the base
construction.

On the government plan, Henoko's district committee chair says that the
residents don't want a new airport (even if it were co-used). The expected
damage from loud noise caused by the new base is also making them nervous.

As regards the call for limiting the use term of the base to 15 years,
which Okinawa Governor Inamine Keiichi and Nago City mayor Kishimoto Tateo
insisted upon, met with a definite rejection by U.S. President George W.
Bush. A former Japan Section chief of the U.S. Department of Defense also
denied the future possibility that the United States may accept the
proposal.

The Japanese government, which has advocated that the rich natural
environment must be defended, has to admit to the possible damage to the
reef by any of the eight plans. Nago's mayor has argued that unless the
15-year-term is not promised by the U.S., he will withdraw supporting the
base relocation plan.

So long as the new base plan runs counter to the desire of the Okinawans
for an Okinawa free from U.S. military bases, there is no alternative for
the government but to cancel all of the eight plans. Also, the U.S. Futenma
Air station must be returned to Japan unconditionally. (end)