Japanese gov't mulls two options for Futemma relocation site+

TOKYO, March 6 Kyodo -
The Japanese government is moving toward choosing between two options to
relocate a U.S. Marine airfield in Okinawa, including a plan to build a helipad
at the Marines' Camp Schwab in the city of Nago, government sources said
Saturday.

The other option is to reclaim an area between the U.S. Navy facility on White
Beach in Uruma and Tsuken Island off the main island of Okinawa, the sources
said, noting that the work to decide on where to move the Futemma facility is
now in the final stage.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano is in position to explain the two
options to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who will then pick one and present it
to U.S. government negotiators.
After the government makes a final decision on the site, the foreign and
defense ministries will enter into full-blown talks with the United States and
the local governments in Okinawa concerned, they said.
The United States has described the existing plan as the best option for
relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station as agreed upon in a 2006
deal on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. It calls for moving Futemma's
functions to a new airfield to be built on the coastal area of Nago.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos has told Hirano that the U.S. side will not
allow Tokyo to make a major change to the existing plan, according to the
government sources.
The Hatoyama government is now making arrangements around an idea of building a
500-meter-long helipad at Camp Schwab, the sources said.
But critics say the plan is not viable given that the United States plans to
deploy MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing, which
require a 1,600-meter runway for normal takeoff and landing, at a base in
Okinawa.
If Japan and the United States settle on the plan, the Futemma facility may
continue to be used -- for the Osprey aircraft -- and Tokyo has begun to pursue
an idea of moving some of the training drills being held at Futemma to
Tokunoshima Island or Mage Island, both in Kagoshima Prefecture, in order to
reduce the noise and danger many associate with Futemma.
Building a 1,600-meter runway in the area mentioned by the plan requires
digging into hillsides, raising environmental concerns. Some critics also point
to the danger of military air vehicles flying over nearby residential houses.
The other option involves constructing a runway in a reclaimed area between
Tsuken Island and an area located in part of Katsuren Peninsula.
The surrounding sea area has shallow water with depths of 1.5 to 3 meters,
where most coral reefs are said to have become extinct, posing fewer
environmental concerns.
This option would require the reclamation of a publicly owned water surface
similar to the existing plan. The Okinawa governor has jurisdiction over such
reclamation.
In the past, both of the two options were proposed to the United States but
were ruled out in the process of talks for the 2006 agreement. It is expected
to take about 10 years for the construction of all facilities in either plan.
==Kyodo
2010-03-06 23:18:28