Okinawa nixes base relocation plan as 'totally unacceptable'

Kyodo News via Yahoo! Asia News
October 31, 2005

(Kyodo) _ Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine on Monday rejected the plan of the Japanese and U.S. governments for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture.

The plan is "totally unacceptable" to Okinawa, Inamine told reporters after his meeting with Defense Facilities Administration Agency Director General Iwao Kitahara at the prefectural government office in Naha. Kitahara visited the governor to brief him on the interim report announced by Japan and the United States over the weekend in Washington on plans for the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, including the Futemma relocation, and to seek the understanding of the Okinawa leaders.

Without elaborating, Inamine said the latest plan creates more problems than the initial plan endorsed by the government in 2002, which calls for relocating the heliport functions of the Futemma base to an area off Henoko in Nago. "The governor offered some very critical remarks," Kitahara told reporters after his meeting with Inamine, held behind closed doors. "We will try to win Okinawa's understanding on the relocation plan by showing our good faith," he said.

Japan and the United States agreed last week on a specific relocation site for the heliport functions of the Futemma base in Ginowan, central Okinawa, to Nago, in the northern part of the island. The move involves using some land of the Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago and reclaiming some land from the sea. Okinawa has demanded that Futemma base's heliport functions be relocated outside the prefecture. Inamine clarified that position Monday, saying he wants Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to exert strong leadership in changing the latest agreement.

Speaking before reporters, Nago Mayor Tateo Kishimoto also branded the plan as "unacceptable," citing potential safety and noise problems. The interim report announced Saturday by the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States includes specifics of the plan for relocating the Futemma heliport functions to Nago. Thousands of people gathered Sunday evening in a park in Naha, the prefectural capital, to protest against the plan.

Under an initial accord, struck in 1996 by the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa, Washington would return the land of the Futemma base to Japan "within five to seven years" on the condition that its heliport functions be relocated within Okinawa Prefecture. That plan has been bogged down mainly due to strong opposition from local communities.

Kyodo News via Yahoo! Asia News