Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2016 November 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

Okinawa governor demands environmental reassessment of US Osprey pads

The Okinawa Prefectural Government and two municipalities in Okinawa announced on November 11 that they will jointly urge the central government to carry out another environmental assessment of the landing pads for U.S. Ospreys which are under construction in the Takae district of Higashi Village.

On that day, Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi held a news conference in the prefectural office building. Onaga noted that the number of complaints about the noise damage caused by Ospreys in the district has dramatically increased since the Japanese government provided the two completed helipads to the U.S. military in February 2015. He claimed that in consideration of the harmful effects on local residents and the natural environment, the Abe administration should again conduct an environmental review before the four other landing pads are completed.

The governor mentioned that he himself had experienced low-frequency noises emitted by U.S. Ospreys during his tenure as mayor of Naha City. “Local people are very worried about various risks associated with Ospreys,” he stressed.

On the previous day, Governor Onaga met with the heads of both Higashi and Kunigami villages and they agreed to call for another environmental assessment of the U.S. military facilities as well as the removal of Ospreys stationed in Okinawa. Kunigami Village is to the north of Higashi Village.

Past related article:
> JCP Akamine criticizes gov’t for destroying rich natural environment in Takae with Osprey helipads construction [October 4, 2016]