The Okinawa prefectural government on April 7 accepted the central government's request concerning the planned boring in the coral reef off Henoko, Nago City. The boring has been proposed by the Defense Facilities Administration Agency that is aiming to construct a state-of-the-art on-sea base to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.
The Naha DFAA last November requested the prefecture to accept the boring plan at 63 sites on the coral reef on which the new U.S. base is planned to be constructed.
Nago citizens and environmentalists have been opposed to this plan and the new base plan, saying that they will damage the habitat of dugong, a natural treasure.
The prefecture in reply to the agency requested that the boring be temporarily stopped whenever damage on dugongs and coral reefs are confirmed and that the boring site itself be reduced in size.
Aragaki Shigenobu, representative of the Okinawan Liaison Council against the Security Treaty, in a statement said, "The boring, if started, will be a signal to construct an on-sea military base. The Okinawan government ignored the Environmental Impact Assessment Law and accepted the arbitrary plans of the U.S. and Japanese governments. We will further push the anti-base campaign."
Higashionna Takuma, Dugong's environment watch team chair, said, "Both the central and prefectural governments failed to show us the reason why boring is necessary. We'll raise protest actions against Okinawan Governor Inamine Keiichi." (end)
