November 2, 2018

The Okinawa Defense Bureau on November 1 resumed landfill work for the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko district. Anti-base Okinawans responded to the act with an on-sea protest.

The resumption of the controversial landfill project became possible only two days earlier, on October 30, when the Land Minister accepted the defense bureau’s request to suspend the Okinawa prefectural government’s decision to revoke the approval to reclaim sea area off Henoko.

Makishi Osamu, the captain of a protest vessel, criticized the Abe government for abusing the Administrative Complaint Review Act to restart the reclamation work, saying that the law is aimed at protecting rights of private individuals, not government ministries. He stressed that the government used the law in an inappropriate way to take action against Okinawans’ strong opposition to the new U.S. base project. Makishi said that he will keep working to return Japan’s democracy back to what it should be. He also expressed his determination to stop the Henoko construction work through peaceful protests.

Okinawa Governor Tamaki Denny in the prefectural office building told the press that it is regrettable that the Abe government resumed the landfill work when Tamaki was asking Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to hold talks on the reversal of Okinawa’s decision.

Past related articles:
> State launches attack on Okinawa’s revocation of Henoko landfill approval [October 18, 2018]
> Henoko reclamation approval revoked [September 1, 2018]