Gov't panel on Futemma relocation to meet Monday+

TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo -
The government will hold a meeting Monday of a committee reviewing the planned
relocation of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa Prefecture so that its members can
present their proposals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Friday.

Hirano had considered terminating consultations under the framework involving
representatives of the three ruling parties but has decided to convene the
panel, which he chairs, at the request of the Social Democratic Party,
according to a high-ranking government official.
The SDP and the People's New Party, the two junior coalition partners in the
Democratic Party of Japan-led government, will present their plans for the
relocation of the Marines' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the same day that Hirano will probably brief
local governments in Okinawa on developments in the central government's
ongoing review ''in the not so distant future'' because Japan is going to reach
a conclusion on the matter by the end of May.
Hatoyama was responding to Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima's expression of
displeasure earlier in the day regarding what he described as a lack of
explanation by the central government on developments in its review process.
Nakaima, who has so far been unable to meet with Hirano during his visit to
Tokyo, said he would oppose the government's policy if it is adopted over the
prefecture's head.
Once the two parties submit their plans Monday, the government will begin
internal coordination to come up with its own plan by the end of this month,
the deadline set by Hatoyama on Thursday.
Asked if he plans to continue holding panel meetings after Monday, Hirano said
at a news conference, ''I don't mean to stop the committee (discussions) after
that and it should hold a meeting when necessary.''
The top government spokesman added that he does not intend to present his own
plan to the panel ''just yet.''
The current plan agreed by Japan and the United States envisions moving
Futemma's functions to a new facility to be built in a coastal area of the
Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago on the same southern island.
''The deadline for the settlement is the end of May,'' Hirano said at another
news conference earlier Friday. ''We must come up with a basic plan by the end
of March given the (need for) negotiations with the United States.''
He also suggested that the government will hold consultations with local
governments in Okinawa Prefecture in parallel with negotiating with Washington.
But Nakaima, the Okinawa governor, warned the central government about a lack
of such consultations on Friday.
''If I'm told, 'Now that a decision has been made, accept it,' I will have no
choice but to oppose it,'' he told reporters. ''(Cabinet ministers) are saying
this and that without giving us an explanation. I doubt if Okinawa is on their
minds.''
The governor also cast doubt on alternative plans currently being considered by
the government, one of which would move Futemma to an inland area at Camp
Schwab. ''It seems to me to be an unreasonable move,'' he said.
Facing the governor's frustration, Hatoyama told reporters in the evening,
''It's important to come up with the government's idea soon, and while (coming
up with it), we need to have consultations with the people of Okinawa and the
United States to seek their understanding.''
Meanwhile, SDP chief Mizuho Fukushima, whose party has called for moving the
Futemma functions outside of the southernmost prefecture, preferably to Guam,
cautioned against rushing to a conclusion on the matter.
''What is (important) is not the time limit (for coming up with a relocation
plan) but its content,'' she said at a news conference. ''We will adequately
consult among the three parties over the content, without proceeding in a rash
manner.''
At a meeting of the House of Councillors Budget Committee, Hatoyama called the
recent unanimous adoption by the Okinawa prefectural assembly of a statement
calling for Futemma's relocation outside of the prefecture ''a grave
decision.''
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa expressed his intention to step up
coordination between ministers concerned, saying he will consult with Hirano
and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
He said the current relocation plan is ''quite difficult'' to implement. ''With
the U.S. side consistently maintaining that the current plan is the best, we're
considering a plan that would fill the gap,'' he said at a news conference.
Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to relocate Futemma to Nago from the
more densely populated city of Ginowan by 2014. But Tokyo started to review the
accord in the wake of the historic change of government in September.
==Kyodo
2010-03-05 22:53:48