Nago City mayor inspects marine ecosystems

Japan Press Weekly

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Nago City mayor inspects marine ecosystems

Okinawa’s Nago City Mayor Inamine Susumu on November 3 inspected the sea off the city’s Henoko area, a habitat of precious marine life and the planned construction site for a new U.S. base.

Inamine was elected as mayor last February on a platform opposing the plan to construct a base in the area as a substitute for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.

This sea area attracted attention as an area of urgent concern in the 10^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) held in Nagoya last month.

Guided by an environmental protectionist team that has identified vast feeding areas for an endangered species of dugong and large colonies of blue coral, Nago City’s high officials led by the mayor inspected the waters off Cape Henoko and the adjacent Oura Bay.

Mayor Inamine said, “There are large coral colonies very near to where people live. We can’t allow constructing a new base by reclaiming land from the sea, which will result in damaging the natural environment as well as citizens’ living conditions.”

Gushiken Toru, Japanese Communist Party member of the city assembly, said, “The inspection by the city administration with the mayor is very significant.” The municipal on-the-spot inspection is based on repeated requests from Gushiken and other anti-base forces in the local assembly.

Professor Sakurai Kunitoshi of Okinawa University commented, “Mayor Inamine is promoting tourism by conserving the rich natural environment in Nago instead of depending on U.S. bases for economic development. I want the mayor to conserve the environment of forests, rivers and the sea in an integrated approach, with the cooperation of the prefectural administration.”

Mayor Inamine has expressed support for Iha Yoichi, a candidate for Okinawa governor opposing the relocation of the Futenma base within Okinawa in an election to be announced on November 11. Candidate Iha has made clear that he will not permit the public-owned waters to be reclaimed, a prerequisite for constructing a new base.

-Akahata, November 4, 2010