2016年12月28日水曜日

Work resumes on replacement site for U.S. base in Okinawa 2016/12/27

Dec 27, 2016

The central government on Tuesday resumed construction work suspended since March at the replacement site in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, for the U.S. Futenma base.



The move came a day after Gov. Takeshi Onaga rescinded an action aimed at blocking the work following his recent defeat at the Supreme Court over the relocation plan.
Tensions remained high between Tokyo and Okinawa, with Onaga calling for consultations with the central government prior to the resumption of the relocation work and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga rejecting the idea.

“We have no choice but to take a hard-line approach,” Onaga was quoted as telling Suga when they met Tuesday in Tokyo. Suga said he told Onaga the central government will proceed with the land reclamation work necessary to transfer Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less populated Henoko coastal area in Nago.

“I told the governor that our country is ruled by law and the (central) government will comply with the finalized court ruling,” Suga said at a regularly scheduled news conference after his meeting with Onaga.

Onaga’s predecessor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in 2013 approved the central government’s request for landfill work in Nago. But Onaga, who was elected in 2014 on a pledge to oppose the relocation of Futenma within Okinawa, revoked the approval in October 2015.

After decades of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, many people in Okinawa want Futenma’s functions moved outside the prefecture. They are frustrated with noise, crime and accidents linked to the U.S. bases, and safety concerns were renewed in the wake of a Dec. 13 crash landing of a U.S. Marines Osprey aircraft off Nago.

The central government has maintained that the relocation plan, crafted under an accord with the United States, is “the only solution” for removing the dangers posed by Futenma, which is located close to schools and homes, without undermining the perceived deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. alliance.

A legal fight between the central government and Okinawa began following Onaga’s revocation and it ended last week with the Supreme Court ruling against his position.
The governor took steps to rescind his revocation Monday, which formally became effective Tuesday. But the standoff over the relocation plan is likely to drag on, with Onaga vowing to do everything he can to thwart the project through other means.

About 250 people held a protest near the construction site in Henoko.
“If we remain silent, it means we are accepting the plan,” 63-year-old Okinawa resident Tsugiyoshi Inafuku said as he joined the protest. “We will continue to voice our anger.”

Work resumes on replacement site for U.S. base in Okinawa

Dec 27, 2016

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Japan gov't resumes construction for relocation of U.S. air base

December 27, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)

NAHA, (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government resumed construction work Tuesday at the planned relocation site for a key U.S. air base in Okinawa Prefecture after suspending the work in March, as Gov. Takeshi Onaga vowed to continue his fight to stop the plan.

The resumption came after Onaga rescinded Monday his previous action aimed at blocking the relocation work, following his recent defeat in a lawsuit filed by the central government over the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Air Station Futenma within the island prefecture.

But tension remains between Tokyo and Okinawa. Onaga's call for consultation prior to the resumption of the work was rejected by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga when they met in Tokyo on Tuesday morning.

Onaga told reporters later in the day that the anger and grief of the people of Okinawa over the issue are "huge," criticizing the central government for restarting the work without holding the consultation he had requested.

"I will continue to do my utmost to prevent the construction of a new base in Henoko (in the city of Nago)," Onaga said, referring to the name of the coastal area where the Futenma base, now situated in a crowded residential area of Ginowan, is planned to be relocated.

After decades of hosting the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, many people in Okinawa are frustrated with noise, crime and accidents linked to the U.S. bases and want the Futenma base to be relocated outside the prefecture. Safety concerns were recently reignited by the crash landing of a U.S. Marines Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft off Nago on Dec. 13.

The Okinawa government is also concerned about potential environmental damage. The sea off Henoko, where a V-shaped runway will be constructed through land reclamation to accommodate an air base, has coral reefs and is a habitat of the endangered dugong.

The central government has maintained that the current relocation plan, crafted under an accord with the United States, is "the only solution" for removing the dangers posed by the Futenma base which is situated close to schools and homes, without undermining the perceived deterrence provided by the Japan-U.S. alliance.

Onaga's predecessor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in 2013 approved the central government's request for landfill work in Nago. But Onaga, who was elected in 2014 on a pledge to oppose the relocation plan, revoked the approval in October 2015.

A legal fight between the central and local governments began following Onaga's revocation and it ended last week with the Supreme Court ruling against the governor's position.

Although Onaga rescinded his revocation, he may resort to other means to hamper the project, such as by refusing to give permission for moving coral reefs in the land reclamation area.

Suga, the top government spokesman, said at a press conference that he told Onaga during their talks Tuesday that the central government will proceed with the landfill work in line with the finalized court ruling, saying that Japan is "a country ruled by law."

About 250 people gathered near the construction site in Henoko to protest against the relocation.

"If we remain silent, it means we are accepting the plan. We will continue to voice our anger," Okinawa resident Tsugiyoshi Inafuku, 63, said as he joined the protest activities.

 

【電子号外】辺野古移設工事が再開 埋め立て効力復活 10カ月ぶり

辺野古工事きょう再開 沖縄県が「承認取り消し」処分を取り消し 国の埋め立て効力復活 知事「新基地は阻止」

沖縄県の翁長雄志知事は26日、米軍普天間飛行場(宜野湾市)の移設計画に伴う名護市辺野古の埋め立て承認を巡り、昨年10月に行った「取り消し処分」を取り消した。仲井真弘多前知事が2013年12月27日に行った埋め立て承認の効力が復活することになる。

 沖縄防衛局は県からの通知を受けて27日に埋め立て工事の関連作業を再開し、基地内に保管するフロート(浮具)の海上設置に向けた作業を進める。翁長知事は26日、記者団に対し「原点に戻り、新辺野古基地を造らせないという新たなスタートを切っていきたい」と述べ、さまざまな知事権限を行使して新基地建設を阻止する決意を改めて強調した。

 埋め立て関連工事は今年3月4日の辺野古代執行訴訟の和解以来、9カ月ぶりの再開となる。取り消し処分の取り消しは、辺野古違法確認訴訟で最高裁が20日に県敗訴の判決を出したことを受けた措置。

 県は26日午後、防衛局宛ての取り消しの通知文を郵送した。防衛局には27日に到着する。県側は作業の実施前に事前協議を求めている。

 防衛局は本格的な工事は年明けに再開し、海底掘削(ボーリング)調査や汚濁防止膜設置に伴うコンクリートブロックの海中投入も行う。当面は護岸設置に向けた作業を目指す。

 26日は米軍キャンプ・シュワブの工事用ゲート前で午前8時半ごろから市民ら約30人が新基地建設に抗議の声を上げた。陸上部の工事用生コンを搭載したとみられるミキサー車26台と作業員の車両3台が入った。市民らは「ミキサー車は新基地建設とは直接関係しないと県も確認している」として搬入阻止はしなかった。県の担当課長も車両搬入を現場で確認した。

 20日の最高裁判決は、辺野古埋め立て計画の合理性、防衛局による環境保全措置などには特段不合理な点はないとした上で、翁長知事による承認取り消しは違法と判断した。翁長知事は承認取り消し判断を巡る確定判決には従うと表明していた。

 翁長知事は今後も、あらゆる手段で辺野古新基地建設を阻止する考えに変わりないことを強調している。政府が年明けにも普天間飛行場の辺野古移設工事を本格化させる中で、知事側が工事阻止へどのような一手を講じるかが焦点となる。