Futenma air station to stay put?

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2010/1/1

Government officials have floated the idea of keeping the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, but transferring some of its helicopter drills to a remote island.

The candidate islands are Iejima, 9 kilometers northwest of the Okinawa main island, and Shimojishima, pictured, about 300 kilometers southwest of the main island. Both islands already have runways.

Some members of the Hatoyama administration say it has become increasingly difficult to transfer the air station to the Henoko district of Nago in the northern part of the prefecture, as agreed upon between Japan and the United States in 2006. -END-(IHT/Asahi: January 1,2010)