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| Map showing the current & planed Air Station sites (Click Image to Enlarge) |
NAHA -- The Okinawa Prefectural Government is set to sue the national government as early as July demanding a halt to work to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the prefecture, sources close to the prefectural government said.
Gov. Takeshi Onaga is poised to submit the plan on the legal action to the prefectural assembly during a session to be convened in June. If the assembly approves the proposal, the prefectural government will file the suit in July at the earliest. The prefectural government will also file a petition for a provisional injunction to ban the work until the court hands down a ruling on the main lawsuit.
The prefectural assembly is highly likely to give the green light to the lawsuit because the ruling bloc supporting the governor has a majority in the assembly.
The prefectural government's permission for crushing reefs, which is necessary for reclamation work off the Henoko district of Nago, to which the Futenma base is expected to be relocated from Ginowan, expired at the end of March. However, the national government has been continuing the work on the assumption that it does not need to gain permission from the prefecture because the local fisheries cooperative has abandoned its fishing rights in the area.
In late April, the central government also began seawall construction work, the first phase of the reclamation work.
Read the full story at The Mainichi