Ginowan Mayor demands closure of Futenma base

Iha Yoichi, mayor of Okinawa's Ginowan City visited Washington D.C. July 12-16 to call for an early removal of the U.S. Futenma Air Station, complaining that the current plan to relocate the base to another site in Okinawa delays implementation of the base closure.

At a press conference on July 16, Iha stressed the necessity to reduce U.S. military facilities located in Okinawa. He added that a relocation of Futenma base to another place in Okinawa is extremely difficult because Okinawa has been forced to endure the heavy burden of U.S. bases for more than half a century.

Although the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed in 1996 that the Futenma base site will be returned to Japan within five to seven years, that promise has not yet been realized. (end)