Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 25 - March 3 [POLITICS]

Okinawa prefectural government investigates damage to coral reefs in Henoko

The Okinawa Prefectural government on February 26 conducted an underwater survey in the sea area off Nago’s Henoko district and confirmed that huge concrete blocks which were dropped by the central government have damaged precious coral reefs.

With this survey, the possibility of enforcing a retraction of the former governor’s approval for the preparatory project for the construction of a new U.S. base has increased.

Following some media reports about the damaged coral reefs, Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi on February 24 at a press conference announced his plan to survey the extent of the damage.

Onaga in the press conference pointed out that the Abe government placed the concrete blocks far outside the area approved by Onaga’s predecessor and breached the prefecture’s fisheries coordination regulations. The governor said that he will probably retract his predecessor’s approval if the survey results confirm the media reports.

On the day of the governor’s announcement about the survey, a group of anti-base divers, who have been taking photos of coral reefs every day in the area where the Okinawa Defense Bureau dropped the blocks, also held a press conference. They revealed that they discovered the coral that had been found to be crushed by one of the concrete blocks has disappeared.

The group’s representative said to reporters, “This must have been done by those who may be inconvenienced by the prefecture’s survey.”


Past related articles:
> Okinawa Gov. orders halt to preparation work for US base construction [February 17, 2015]
> Anti-base lawmakers protest against environmental damage caused by US base construction [October 28, 2014]