NAHA--The cost for three areas of reclamation work to build a U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture has soared by 60 percent to 41.6 billion yen ($383.7 million) in only two and a half years since the order was given.

The Defense Ministry has kept changing the contract without holding open biddings for the additional work.

A number of other murky aspects have surfaced over the overall project, including plans to use taxpayer money to build a bowling alley and dance hall, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

The new U.S. base off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, will take over the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, also in the prefecture.

An examination of contract papers and inquiries to the Defense Ministry found that the costs for reclamation work surged for three sections in the sea area just south of the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab.

A consortium of a major general contractor and Okinawan construction companies landed the contract for the reclamation work for 25.9 billion yen when the ministry held an open bidding in February 2018.

By the end of September 2020, however, three changes were made to the contract for the first section and five changes each for the second and third sections, leading to the surge in reclamation work costs.

Broken down, the costs increased: from 11.88 billion yen to 15.47 billion for the first section; from 7.9 billion yen to 12.74 billion yen for the second section; and from 6.93 billion yen to 13.82 billion yen for the third section.

Work started in December 2018, and about 892,000 cubic meters of dirt, or 4.3 percent of the total, had been poured into the sections by the end of January this year.

The ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau lists the landfill project on its website, but it states only the amount of the initial contract.

Although the Okinawa Defense Bureau’s documents confirmed the contract changes, the records did not provide detailed reasons for alterations, merely saying “coordinating plans,” “detail checking” and “changes in planning.”

In response to inquiries from The Asahi Shimbun for more information, the ministry said the contract changes concerned switching the transport method of landfill materials, relocating equipment to safeguard against typhoons and altering the temporary drainage channel.

It said the changes were made because of circumstances in the ministry, and it also defended the sparse amount of information available on its website, calling the disclosure “appropriate.”

The estimated overall cost for relocating the Futenma air station to the new base has ballooned to 930 billion yen, about 2.7 times the original figure, according to a revised projection released in late 2019.

This is because some parts of the seabed area for the reclamation project were found to be soft.

Asked about the possibility of a further surge in expenses, a ministry official said, “We will try to ensure an appropriate execution of the budget and rein in the costs.”

Hiroshi Arikawa, former commissioner of the Board of Audit and visiting professor of public policy at Nihon University, rebuked the ministry for failing to push for price competitiveness and transparency in public works projects.

“What is the point of holding a bidding in the first place if the ministry allows contractors to receive more funds without additional tenders each time the contract is changed?” he said. “The ministry must at least proactively disclose details of the changes and the reason for them.”

Arikawa warned that overall costs would keep rising unless a close probe into the current status was conducted.

The central government had spent around 123.3 billion yen on the landfill work by March 2020. And 30 percent was used for security around the site.

Okinawa Prefecture is home to 70 percent of U.S. military facilities in Japan, and residents and politicians have long complained about the accidents and crimes stemming from the bases.

They are fiercely opposed to relocating the Futenma base within the prefecture and have frequently staged protests near the construction site.

The ministry has awarded a 38.6-billion-yen contract to a security company to keep protesters at bay since July 2014, meaning a daily expenditure of 18.5 million yen.

The government estimates overall security costs will total 170 billion yen by the time the relocation project is complete.

Kyoji Yanagisawa, former assistant chief Cabinet secretary in charge of national security and crisis management between 2004 and 2009, questioned the wisdom of pushing for the unpopular project.

“It is imperative to gain an understanding from the public concerning the building of a defense facility,” he said. “I have never heard of a public works project that requires nearly 200 billion yen for security alone.”

Yanagisawa also pointed out that injecting nearly 1 trillion yen into the relocation project and spending over 12 years on the new base may prove an unwise investment because the U.S. military is reviewing its global strategy.

“It is possible that the need for the base will disappear,” he said. “Proceeding with the project, above all, runs counter to good sense by the government.”

Another questionable part of the relocation project is that it includes 75 billion yen for work to realign Camp Schwab. Among the planned facilities are a swimming pool, a gym, a bowling alley and a dance hall for U.S. military personnel.

The government has provided host nation support to the U.S. military since 1979 to help it cover housing and welfare facilities in Japan.

But the government’s policy now is to reduce funding for highly leisure-oriented facilities, according to the ministry’s website.

Hiromori Maedomari, professor of national security at Okinawa International University, called for the Diet and the Board of Audit to scrutinize the relocation project.

“The costs for the Henoko project include allocations of money that will unlikely be approved under the name of host nation support,” he said.