The construction of a new US military base in Okinawa has begun.
Even though the US military base in Okinawa has caused many problems for residents, Washington plans to build a new military base in the same prefecture.
The plan to transfer the US military base is associated with a large number of legal cases between the government and the authorities of Okinawa Prefecture, which slows down the construction process of this new military base that started today.
Okinawa Governor Danny Tamaki says that he has filed a lawsuit against the central government in the Supreme Court regarding the issuance of a license to build a new US military base, although the lawsuit cannot stop the construction work and the construction will only be stopped if the ruling The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Governor of Okinawa.
The US Navy’s Futenma base in Okinawa is known as the most dangerous military base in the world because it is located near a residential area.
According to the 2006 Japan-US agreement, this military base was supposed to be transferred to Henoku in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture. To make this happen, about 157 hectares of the sea’s coastal strip would have to be filled, which would damage the coral reefs.
In addition, local officials say that the transfer of the US military base to another place in the same Okinawa will not reduce the heavy responsibility of the authorities in this prefecture in hosting the US military bases.
According to this report, Okinawa, which occupies only 0.6% of Japan’s territory, hosts 74% of all US bases.