November 23, 2023

Only 14% of reclamation work has been done in preparation for the construction of a new U.S. military base in the Henoko area in Nago City, Okinawa, while 47% of the estimated total landfill budget was already spent as of 2022.

Japanese Communist Party representative Akamine Seiken revealed this at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on November 22.

Akamine pointed out that 47% or 170.4 billion yen of the estimate of 360 billion yen laid out in December 2019 was already spent for only 14% of reclamation work, according to the materials submitted by the Ministry of Defense. He asked, “How could this have happened?”

Defense Minister Kihara Minoru answered, “Because material prices and labor costs have been rising.”

Akamine said, “Was it because the government may have intended the estimate to be smaller than the actual anticipated amount?” He demanded that the government explain where the initial estimate came from and submit an accurate estimate to the Diet.

Past related article:
> Local assemblypersons' group against Henoko base project formed in Okinawa [ September 18, 2023]