By TARO ONO/ Staff Writer
December 20, 2023 at 18:09 JST
Land reclamation work continues off the coast of the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, for a U.S. military base. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
NAHA—A court here on Dec. 20 gave the Okinawa prefectural government three days to approve a design change application for land reclamation work related to the relocation of a U.S. military base.
If the prefecture fails to meet the deadline set by the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court, the central government can take over the approval process and proceed with the land reclamation work.
The work off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, is needed for construction of a runway for a new military base that will take over the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture.
The branch granted the administrative subrogation order to the central government for the seabed area that has been described as “soft as mayonnaise.”
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki appeared before the Naha branch on Oct. 30, seeking a halt to the U.S. base relocation project.
“The central government should not force upon the Okinawa people what it thinks is in their public interest,” he said. “The public interest should only be the will clearly expressed by the Okinawa people.”
Despite reports of the weak seabed and opposition from Okinawa residents, the central government started the reclamation work in December 2018.
In 2019, it acknowledged the need to reinforce weak areas of the seabed and applied for a change in the design of the landfill work in April 2020.
The prefecture rejected the application, and the case went to the Supreme Court.
The high court branch on Dec. 20 ruled that Naha should have swiftly approved the design change after the Supreme Court on Sept. 4 ruled that the prefectural government was obligated to do so.
Although the Okinawa prefectural government can appeal the latest ruling to the Supreme Court, the land reclamation work can continue during the legal process.
The work can only be stopped if the top court rules in favor of the prefectural government.
Top court ruling obligates Tamaki to OK changes to U.S. base work
September 4, 2023
Supreme Court rejects appeal by Okinawa to stop Henoko base
December 9, 2022
Tamaki: Public will should be left up to the people, not Tokyo
October 31, 2023
Tamaki runs out of legal options to stop Henoko base relocation
September 5, 2023
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