Japan’s central government yesterday started main reclamation work at a disputed US military base relocation site on the southern island of Okinawa despite fierce local opposition.
Construction workers dumped a truckload of sediment and bulldozed it into the sea at Henoko on Okinawa’s east coast to build a runway for a US Marine Corps base that is to be relocated from densely populated Futenma in the southern part of the island.
The central government has reversed Okinawa’s earlier ban on landfill work at the site.
Photo: AP
Opponents of the relocation say it would not only be an environmental debacle, but also ignore local wishes to remove the base.
“I resent it strongly,” Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki told reporters. “The central government is forcibly dumping the sediment into the sea and it does not even pay the slightest attention to the will of the Okinawan people.”
Tamaki calls the one-sided decision “illegal” and has repeatedly visited Tokyo, urging top officials in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet to postpone the landfill work and engage in dialogue.
Tamaki was in Tokyo on Thursday for talks with Japanese Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya.
Dozens of people in rubber boats protested the move, hoisting placards.
“Don’t kill the ocean,” one of the placards said.
“No military base needed for Okinawa’s children,” another one read.
Many Okinawans say the presence of so many US troops on the island is already a heavy burden and they want the existing Futenma air station closed and its replacement moved off the island entirely.
Tamaki, who was elected late in September on his campaign promises to block the Henoko base and further reduce US bases on the island, also visited Washington and New York last month to gain support for Okinawa from the US public and officials.
Washington’s position remains that the dispute should be resolved between Tokyo and Okinawa.
Officials in Tokyo said that the Henoko plan is the only one feasible and they will stick with it despite protests.
“In order to maintain the deterrence of the Japan-US alliance and to remove the risk of the Futenma air station, its relocation to Henoko is the only solution,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters yesterday.
He added that the central government would work toward reducing Okinawa’s burden of hosting US troops and gaining understanding and cooperation from residents.
Tetsuro Fukuyama, a senior opposition lawmaker, criticized Abe’s government for pushing through with the base relocation.
“This is far from democracy,” the Constitutional Democratic Party MP said. “The Abe government has no compassion for Okinawa, or respect for the rule of law or respect for the will of the people.”
The plan is to build a V-shape runway on the landfill for a targeted completion in 2022 as a replacement for Futenma after its closure.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
RSS