Japan Press Weekly

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2014 October 1 - 7 [POLITICS]

PM Abe defies overwhelming majority of Okinawans

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Akamine Seiken on October 6 at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting urged the government to stop the ongoing construction of a new U.S. military base in Okinawa, referring to the fact that an overwhelming majority of Okinawans are opposing the construction. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo expressed his intent to continue the construction work.

In mid-August, Japan’s Defense Ministry forcibly started drilling surveys in the Henoko coastal area in Nago City to “relocate” the U.S. Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City to that area.

A poll jointly conducted late in August by Okinawa’s local daily Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Television showed that more than 80% of the respondents demand a halt to the construction work and disapprove of the Abe Cabinet actions.

Citing this poll, Akamine insisted that the administration should respect local opinion and stop the construction immediately. PM Abe just cited the “advantages” of the base relocation.

Akamine also took up the issue that the national government in September revised its landfill project for the base construction and submitted it to the Okinawa prefectural government for approval.

At first, the central government had a plan to gather soil around the Henoko dam in Nago City and carry it to the reclamation site using belt conveyors. To build a conveyor system there, they need to obtain the approval of the city government.

In the Nago City Assembly election on September 7, candidates opposing the U.S. base construction obtained the majority of the seats. In January this year, incumbent Nago City Mayor Inamine Susumu, who pledged to oppose the construction project, was re-elected.

Under these circumstances, the state apparently changed its initial plan into one to transport the soil using dump trucks, not conveyor belts. Vehicle transportation needs no prior consent of the municipality.

The JCP legislator noted that the estimated amount of soil to be transported is equivalent to 108,000 trucks with a payload of 10 tons, which means that 592 dump trucks will come and go on the main road every day. Pointing to the fact that the defense authorities had argued that they would use a conveyor system to protect the ambient environment, Akamine stressed that the state is contradicting itself.

Defense Minister Eto Akinori refused to answer, saying that the reclamation plan is under examination by the prefecture.

Past related article:
> Reclamation work at Henoko will damage natural environment [September 13, 2014]