Documents show preparations are under way for new U.S. base in Okinawa - Akahata reports

Akahata on March 26 reported that two documents show that the Japanese government has already designed a yard for the construction of a state-of-the-art on-sea military base for U.S. forces in Nago City, Okinawa.

The documents also reveal that the United States will present Japan with an outline for its base design this year.

This shows that the United State is sticking to the relocation plan of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, Okinawa.

"It is important to note that moves are under way for the construction of a new base even though it was recently reported that the United States may not necessarily call for a new base to be built as a substitute for the Futenma base which will be closed in accordance with a 1996 Japan-U.S. agreement.

One of the documents was obtained by Tsuchida Takenobu, an assistant professor at Okinawa University, from the Naha Regional Defense Facilities Administrative Agency (DFAA). He found that the DFAA drafted a plan for a construction yard to be set up in Oura Bay adjacent to Nago in order to assemble shore protection blocks and caissons.

These yards, if set up, will destroy the rich natural resources in the bay such as coral reefs, claim environmental protection groups.

Another document, which was obtained by Akahata, was a DFAA document attached to the DFAA's budget request for FY 2004. It revealed that the United States will submit to Japan a rough design on the base in 2004. The DFAA requested five million yen in expenditure for the translation of the U.S. outline.

The plan calls for an environmental assessment and boring for the shore protection works.

Faced with strong opposition from Okinawans, the new base plan (under the 1996 Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) Final Report on Futenma Air Station) to finish construction within seven years has been drastically delayed.

It has also been reported that U.S. alternatives to this plan include relocation of the Futenma base to Shimoji-shima in the southern Ryukyu islands or to the U.S. Kadena Air Base in mainland Okinawa.

Either the new base plan at Nago or alternatives as part of the global realignment of U.S. forces will force Okinawans continue to coexist with U.S. military bases. There is no alternative but to withdraw the U.S. Futenma base without any conditions, the paper said. (end)