Aug 23 08:08 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - TOKYO, Aug. 23 (Kyodo) — The government intends to make public an expert report on the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture due to be compiled by the end of this month, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Monday.
"It is yet to be decided whether the whole of the report will be disclosed or just its summary but it will be made public in some way," Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, said in a press conference.
The two countries agreed in May that a study by experts on the location, configuration and construction method of the replacement facility for Futenma Air Station would be completed by the end of August.
The report is expected to mention two choices for the possible design of the alternative facility -- building two runways in a V-shaped formation or constructing a single runway.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa met with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos in Tokyo Monday. They are believed to have exchanged opinions on the expert report as Japanese and U.S. officials are adding the finishing touches on it.
In Okinawa, locals still oppose the relocation plan, demanding that the government move the military base out of the prefecture.
"We are saying it is extremely difficult (to accept the plan) even though experts keep studying the issue," Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters after meeting with Sengoku in Tokyo.
The Japan-U.S. accord reached in May states the heliport functions of the Futenma base located in a crowded residential area of Ginowan would be moved to the less populated Henoko district in Nago, northern Okinawa.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said the government, while respecting the bilateral accord, will make every effort to ease the burden on the people of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan.
As for the attempt to ease the burden, Sengoku said the Japanese and U.S. governments are considering the issue "to a respectable degree," and that they will take note of what Okinawa wants to say.
In the joint statement released May 28 after reaching the agreement, the two governments said they recognized the importance of responding to the concerns of the Okinawa people that they bear a disproportionate burden related to the presence of U.S. forces in Japan.
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