Japan Press Weekly

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2014 October 22 - 28 [POLITICS]

Anti-base lawmakers protest against environmental damage caused by US base construction

Opposition Dietmembers elected from Okinawa lodged a protest on October 27 with the Okinawa Defense Bureau over the fact that the heavy equipment used in the construction of a new U.S. military base damaged coral reefs in the waters around the construction site.

The defense authorities launched boring explorations in August in the Henoko coastal area in Nago City and installed floats there to prevent protesters from approaching. In October, members of a civil group opposing the base construction conducted a diving survey and revealed that the floats’ anchors were carried away by the latest typhoon and damaged the reefs.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken demanded that the authorities admit their responsibility for the environmental destruction. A bureau official just replied that they are investigating the issue.

Past related article:
> Nature conservation NGO calls for survey of dugong feeding grounds in Henoko [August 20, 2014]