Japan Govt Revokes Okinawa's Rejection of Base Plan Changes

Tokyo, April 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese land minister Tetsuo Saito on Friday revoked Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki's decision not to approve the central government's design changes for a plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the southern prefecture.

Saito gave the prefectural government until April 20 to approve the design changes.

Okinawa is expected to take measures to counter the revocation, aiming to block the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in a heavily populated area in the city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in the city of Nago.

In April 2020, the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau filed an application with the prefectural government for the design changes for ground improvements following the discovery of loose ground in the seabed of waters where landfill work was conducted for the relocation.

In November last year, Tamaki declined to approve the application, citing the central government's failure to give due consideration to the impact of the design changes on the ecosystem of endangered dugongs.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]