July 29, 2010
Washington, July 28 (Jiji Press) -- The United States has given up plans to complete the transfer of U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, to Guam by 2014, the Defense Department said.
The United States plans to extend the deadline "over a greater period of time" in order to lower "the need for various infrastructure upgrades to meet peak loading demands in 2014," the department said in a report released Tuesday.
Japan and the United States agreed on the transfer in 2006 in order to reduce burdens on Okinawa from the massive U.S. military presence.
A delay in the transfer is expected to fuel opposition among Okinawa people to plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station within the prefecture.
According to the report on environmental assessment, 8,552 Marines and their 9,000 family members will move from Okinawa to Guam, starting in 2010.
(2010/07/28-23:14)
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