OKINAWA, Japan: Japan’s Defence Ministry said today that landfill dumping has begun in a new section of a bay in Okinawa as part of a long-running plan to relocate a United States (US) military airbase in a residential area to a less-populated coastal site in the southern island prefecture, Kyodo News reported.
Launched despite local opposition, the work next to a section of Oura Bay where dumping began last November comes as the Japanese Government continues to pursue the relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, in line with a bilateral agreement reached in 1996 with its key security ally, the US.
The latest step is seen as an effort by the government to demonstrate progress ahead of the prefecture’s gubernatorial election in September, in which incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki, who opposes the relocation plan, has said he will run.
Due to excessive noise, pollution and crimes involving American servicemen, many Okinawan residents have long hoped the Futenma base, located in the densely populated city of Ginowan, would be moved out of the prefecture.
Okinawa is home to the bulk of US military installations in Japan.
The current work involves dumping landfill into the bay east of the Henoko area in Nago, selected by the Japanese Government in 1999 as the relocation site.
While dumping in Henoko’s southern area has been largely completed after beginning in 2018, the Oura Bay section requires reinforcement of its large areas of soft soil. The area where work began today is not among those requiring ground improvement.
The relocation project is currently expected to be completed around April 2033, with the transfer of facilities likely to take a further three years.
The Japanese Government has been pushing ahead with the relocation plan based on the view that it is vital to remove the dangers of the Futenma base. – BERNAMA-KYODO
