April 28, 2010
Click for Video
The Japanese government is working to make final adjustments to its plan for relocating the US Marines Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.
It hopes to transfer Futenma's operations, including flight exercises, as much as possible to the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture about 200 kilometers north of Okinawa. It is also considering modifying the existing plan, agreed on by the Japanese and US governments in 2006.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met former Lower House member Torao Tokuda from Tokunoshima in Tokyo on Wednesday. Hatoyama appears eager to lay the groundwork for negotiations with local municipalities by exchanging views with Tokuda, who remains influential on the island even after his retirement from politics.Hatoyama is also scheduled to hold a meeting with concerned ministers on Wednesday.
The US continues to say the existing plan is best and the Japanese government is considering modifying the plan to make it easier for the US to accept. It is now looking into building a pile-supported runway in shallow waters off US Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa, instead of the coastal area of the base which would require reclaiming the sea. It says the idea is less harmful to the environment than the existing plan.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa explained the state of government studies to US Ambassador John Roos on Tuesday.
It remains unclear whether the government will be able to gain local understanding of candidate sites and conclude the relocation issue by the end of May as intended.
2010/04/28 10:56(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
Posts
