The Abe government formally applied to the Okinawa prefectural government April 21 for an alteration in the construction plan of a new military base at Henoko after soft seabed was discovered in the site, presenting a ‘a design change’ report. Does the central government prefer the US base to human lives in the critical phase of the epidemic?

SPEND TAX MONEY TO COMBAT COVID-19 AND REVOKE BASE CONSTRUCTION!

It had been already confirmed after boring tests by 2016 that the sea floor extending in the Oura Bay area is soft and porous. The Ministry of Defense, however, has kept the fact in secret to continue landfill works relentlessly. The ministry is not entitled to request changes in the building plan. It was only January 2019 for the central government to admit the existence of soft seabed, simultaneously, telling it feasible to work on by reinforcing the ground. However the authority did not indicate the estimated overall cost and construction period.

‘A new project’ in real term

The central government stated in the document that the construction term will be another 12 years and the overall cost, 930 billion Yen, which is 2.7 times bigger than the initial figure (the Okinawa local government estimates as 2.55 trillion Yen). The new plan represents a complete alteration of the reclamation works, being equal to a fresh project. A separate environmental assessment needs to be done.

A massive amount of coastal sand is necessary to fill the porous ground. The original plan specified that 70% of the necessary soil is brought from the western regions of the country, but the new design sets forth to procure in Okinawa both of soil and seashore sand. That means the seas and mountains in the prefecture will be catastrophically damaged.

One more idea is included: a landfill work will be done in advance up to a level of seven meters below the sea surface before closing the protection walls surrounding the outer periphery in order to curtail the construction period. Thus, the sea in the entire Oura Bay will be contaminated.

Police activities spend 20% of money

Problems are mounting. Active geological faults are found. Earthquake-proof jobs are inadequate as employed are the standards set for medium-and-small facilities although the facility is a military installation that uses dangerous substances. The estimated duration of use by the two nations ‘is assumed to be 50 years’, which is a norm designed for ordinary structures.

Geological data hidden behind were detected in February concerning the spots surveyed in the B27 zone. The locality is vital in terms of the caisson foundation jobs. But the government still refuses another investigation. Twenty percent of the overall cost is allocated to policing, which symbolizes abnormality of the jobs for the new base at Henoko, which is under way against the will of people.

It has passed 24 years since the bilateral agreement was reached to get the Futenma Air Station back to Japan. Another 12 years will be necessary at the least for the joint use by US and Japan. It is easy for everyone to see the plan, ‘Henoko is the only and the ultimate solution’, bankrupted.

What is to be done at the moment for the central government and the Ministry of Defense is not to request alteration of the blueprint, but to report precisely to the Okinawa’s prefectural authority and the Diet about the today’s situation and withdraw the initiative to build a new base at Henoko.

Security for people

The Covid-19 pandemic tells us radically, exposing flaws in readiness to protect people. Military budgets allocated to construction of a new base at Henoko, deployment of the Aegis ashore systems and purchase of F35 fighter jets should be spent on the measures to combat the epidemic and support people’s livelihood.

May 12, 2020