Japan Press Weekly

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2010 December 22 - 2011 January 4 [OKINAWA]

Gov’t forcibly begins US helipad construction

Early in the morning before anti-helipad residents started their daily sit-in action, the Okinawa Defense Bureau on December 22 forcibly carried out initial construction tasks for U.S. military helipads in the Takae district of Higashi Village in Okinawa.

The bureau in January sued through the Naha District Court, two residents participating in the sit-in against the construction of the helipad in front of the construction site claiming that they are blocking traffic. The Naha District Court on December 1 made an unusual proposal calling on the government to engage in dialogue with the residents to resolve this issue. The commencement of work just after the court’s proposal is showing that the government is intenting to ignore the court decision pertaining to the case which the government itself brought before the court.

Around 6 a.m. on December 22, at two of six construction sites, dozens of construction workers and Okinawa Defense Bureau officials put up a steel fence and brought in heavy machinery. Dozens of guards linked arm in arm surrounded the site as if they were preparing to attack residents.

Local resident Isa Masatsugu angrily said, “While fighting it out in the court, the government sneakily started the helipad construction. Manabe Ro, Director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense, had promised not to carry out nighttime and early-morning construction operations. The bureau is not to be trusted.”

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken on the same day summoned a Defense Ministry official to his office in the Lower House Members’ Office Building. He protested the action, saying, “It is an insult to justice that the government enforced the construction work while the issue is pending a court decision. Since the return of Okinawa to Japan, no new military base has been built. Okinawan people will not accept another military base.” Akamine demanded that the construction work be stopped immediately.

A residents’ group opposing the U.S. helipad construction issued a statement. It states, “The forcible initiation of construction proves that the government is unwilling to resolve the issue through negotiations. The government is using the lawsuit as a means to intimidate the people. That’s why the government pushes ahead with the construction regardless of the outcome of the trial.”