Photo/Illutration Land minister Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference on Dec. 26. (Eishi Kado)

The central government will play its legal card and approve changes to land reclamation work on behalf of Okinawa Prefecture on Dec. 28 for the relocation of a U.S. military base within the prefecture, the land minister said.

Tetsuo Saito told a news conference on Dec. 26 that the government sent a notice about the approval by proxy to Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, who refused to approve the changes by the Dec. 25 deadline set by a court.

Saito said the notice is scheduled to be delivered to the Okinawa prefectural government on the afternoon of Dec. 27.

It will be the first use of administrative subrogation, in which the central government carries out a local government’s administrative work on its behalf.

The Defense Ministry proposed changes to work to reclaim an area in Oura Bay north of Henoko Point of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to build a replacement facility for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture.

Land reclamation work in the area, whose foundation has been described “as soft as mayonnaise,” is expected to begin as early as January.

The Fukuoka High Court’s Naha Branch on Dec. 20 ordered Tamaki to approve the changes by Dec. 25.

“It is difficult to give approval because the ruling involves various problems and because I have a mandate as governor from many prefectural residents opposed to the construction of a new military base at Henoko,” Tamaki said in a statement on Dec. 25.

The Okinawa prefectural government is expected to appeal the decision on Dec. 27, but land reclamation work cannot be halted until the Supreme Court rules in Okinawa’s favor.

The Supreme Court in September directed Tamaki to approve the design changes, but the governor refused.

The central government in October filed a lawsuit with the Fukuoka High Court’s Naha Branch based on the Local Autonomy Law to carry out administrative subrogation.

Related News