Land reclamation work for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to the Henoko district in Nago in the prefecture is likely to resume, as the land minister on Tuesday decided to temporarily suspend the prefecture's retraction of its approval for the work.
Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii announced the decision at a press conference held after a Cabinet meeting on the day. Following the decision, the Defense Ministry plans to resume the land reclamation work at the earliest possible time.
During the press conference, Ishii explained the reason for suspending the prefecture's withdrawal of approval, citing difficulties in eliminating the risk posed by the air station and disadvantages Japan may suffer in diplomacy and defense.
"There is an urgent need to avoid suffering serious damage," Ishii said.
The suspension will take effect when a written notice from the ministry arrives at the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau. The Defense Ministry intends to proceed with preparations for the landfill work in order to start pouring earth and sand into the landfill area as early as in December.
"We want to resume [the work] as soon as preparations to do so are complete," Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at a press conference.
As a countermeasure, the prefectural government will file a request for the Central and Local Government Dispute Management Council to review the matter, asking for invalidation of the suspension. The council is a third-party committee of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry that mediates disputes between the central government and local governments.
If the request is not accepted, the prefecture eyes the possibility of filing a lawsuit demanding the revocation. It is possible the dispute between the central and prefectural governments over the relocation will be brought into court again.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that the central government's move "treads on the will of people. It's hard to accept it."
The central government has been proceeding with the relocation of the air station based on a Japan-U.S. agreement. In December 2013, then Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima approved the reclamation work off the Henoko district.
However, the prefectural government withdrew the approval at the end of August, which led to suspension of the work.
On Oct. 17, the Defense Ministry filed a request with the land minister for a review of the prefectural government's retraction of the approval, aiming to have the retraction nullified, under the Administrative Complaint Investigation Law. The land minister has jurisdiction over laws and regulations related to the reclamation work.
The Defense Ministry also filed a petition to have the prefecture's retraction temporarily suspended, as deliberations to decide on the request will take several months.
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