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500 Okinawans hold rally against U.S. helipad construction About 500 people held a rally on January 20 in front of the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office in Naha City in protest against the central government seeking a court order to eject the citizens who are staging a sit-in in front of the construction site of U.S. Marine Corps helipads. Last December, the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau petitioned the Naha District Court for the removal of the sit-in protesters who are expressing their opposition to the planned construction of six helipads. Villagers of the Takae district, Higashi Village in Northern Okinawa began the sit-in in July 2007. The rally was called for by various organizations, including the Association of Residents against the Helicopter Pad, the Nago Council against the Construction of U.S. On-Sea Heliport, and the Okinawa Prefectural Liaison Council for United Action for Abrogation of the Security Treaty. On behalf of the Association of Residents against the Helicopter Pad, Isa Masatsugu stated that the construction of helipads has been pushed while concealing the U.S. plan to deploy the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor vertical/short takeoff and landing craft (VSTOL), to the site in the U.S. Northern Training Area. "The Defense Ministry, not the residents, is to blame for committing lawless actions," he stressed. Ashimine Yukine, who has been taking part in the sit-in action which was started by only four villagers, said, "Once the helipads are constructed, we villagers enjoying the natural beauty of the Yanbaru (Northern Okinawa) Forest will be forced to endure excessively loud noise and the danger of possible helicopter crashes." She called on participants to support the villagers in the struggle to win the suit. After the rally, the villagers and supporters marched in demonstration through Naha City. - Akahata, January 21, 2009 |
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