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NAGO, Okinawa -- The Defense Ministry began construction of seawalls off the coastline of this city's Henoko district on April 25 as the initial phase of reclamation work to build a replacement facility for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
As large volumes of stones will be piled up on the seabed to create outer frames of landfill areas, it would be difficult to restore the original natural environment in surrounding waters once the construction work progresses. Once the seawalls are completed, the Defense Ministry is planning to pour earth and sand into the area as early as by the end of March next year, seeking to finish construction of the main facility within the next five years.
The move marks a crucial phase in the controversial plan to relocate the Futenma air base from a densely populated residential area to the Henoko district of Nago amid fierce opposition in Okinawa -- more than two decades after the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed on the return of the Futenma airfield to Japan in April 1996.
Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga, a staunch opponent to the base transfer to Henoko, is poised to take every step possible to resist the central government's move. Onaga has suggested retracting his predecessor's approval of reclamation work off Henoko and filing a suit demanding the suspension of the construction work. As the central government is expected to fire back by resorting to execution by proxy in case Onaga retracts the reclamation approval, it remains unclear how much Okinawa will be able to do to stop the construction work.
Read the full story at The Mainichi