 Ginowan City sends statement to U.S. calling for removal of Futenma base Iha Yoichi, Mayor of Ginowan City in Okinawa, announced on November 4 that he sent a statement to the commission under the U.S. Congress on review of U.S. bases abroad, calling for an early removal of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station located in his city. Members of the Commission on Review of Overseas U.S. Military Facility Structure plan to visit Okinawa to investigate U.S. bases this month. Iha said at a press conference, "If the commission members are informed of our demands and then see the Futenma base located in populated areas, I think they will realize that such base conditions must not be left as they are." The statement pointed out that although the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed in 1996 to return the Futenma base site within 5 to 7 years, the agreement has not been implemented because the U.S. government has persisted in its plan to construct an alternative base as a condition of return. It pointed out that about 30,000 Ginowan residents took part in a rally to protest a U.S. military helicopter crash on August 13 at a university campus in Ginowan City. Mayor Iha demanded that the U.S. government consider removing the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and other U.S. bases in Okinawa as a part of the global U.S. base transformation process. (end) |