July 17, 2008

n the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, six opposition parties banded together to submit a resolution and statement opposing the construction of a new U.S. military base in the sea off the Henoko district of Nago City. The reasons they gave for this move are that the residents will be forced to shoulder more burdens and that the construction will lead to perpetuating the presence of the U.S. military base.

They emphasized that the waters off Henoko are a precious habitat of dugong, a rare sea mammal designated as one of Japan’s natural treasures, and many other rare sea creatures and that the area embraces beautiful waters without a parallel in the world, where a new coral reef has been discovered.

They strongly urged both the Japanese and the U.S. governments to immediately cancel the construction plan by stating, “We definitely oppose the planned construction of a new U.S. base because the plan will allow the permanent existence of another military base in Okinawa and the construction will bring about environmental pollution and environmental destruction due to large-scale reclamation work. We believe that the prefectural people have the duty to hand down our world-class natural resources to the next generation”
- Akahata, July 17, 2008