Okinawa to file suit over US base relocation
July 14, 2017
NAHA, OKINAWA PREF.- The Okinawa prefectural assembly approved on Friday a plan to file a lawsuit aimed at blocking landfill work by the Japanese government for the relocation of a US military base within the southern prefecture.
The prefectural government plans to file the suit with Naha District Court as early as this month, sources familiar with the matter said.
Okinawa is also expected to seek a provisional court injunction to suspend the landfill work, the sources said.
The moves will bring the dispute between the prefectural and central governments over the relocation of the US Marine Corps' Futenma air station in the city of Ginowan to court again, after the Okinawa side lost a suit last year.
Okinawa opposes the central government's plan to build a replacement facility along the coast of Henoko in the city of Nago to relocate the Futenma base.
In April, the central government started seawall construction as part of the landfill work off Henoko.
Okinawa argues that the central government needs to renew reef destruction permission for the work. The approval, given by Hirokazu Nakaima, the predecessor of current Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, expired at the end of March.
But the central government claims that the renewal is not needed because local fishermen have given up their fishing rights. (Jiji Press)
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