 JCP criticizes Yokohama mayor's acceptance of U.S. military housing construction plan The Japanese Communist Party on September 22 criticized Mayor of Yokohama Nakada Hiroshi for approving the government request for the construction of an additional 700 housing units to be constructed for the U.S. Navy based in Yokosuka. The Yokohama mayor agreed to discuss matters related to the housing construction with the government in contravention of the 1994 agreement between the government, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Zushi City that no additional houses would be constructed in the Ikego district, which extends to Yokohama and Zushi cities. The government has been pressing the cities of Yokohama and Zushi to accept the additional construction plan in exchange for the return to Yokohama of some U.S. Navy facility sites. The JCP Yokohama City Assembly Members Group lodged a protest against the mayor's decision, stating that the acceptance is tantamount to succumbing to the government pressure on the municipalities to accept the construction of housing units in exchange for a return of abandoned U.S. facilities, which should be returned to Japan immediately. The JCP group also pointed out that Nakada's acceptance conflicts with Yokohama City's stated position that U.S. military facilities should be returned to the city at the earliest possible time. (end) |