Japan may increase outlays for U.S. Marines' transfer to Guam+

TOKYO, July 28 Kyodo -
Japan is considering increasing its expenditures for moving some U.S. Marines
from Okinawa to Guam, in the hope of realizing the transfer by 2014 in line
with the two countries' agreed schedule, government sources said Wednesday.
The planned move must be achieved on time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito
Sengoku said at a news conference, adding that ''Japan and the United States
must strenuously engage on financial, technical and a range of other matters.''
The latest consideration is a response to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates'
letter to the Japanese government in mid-June, in which he requested that Tokyo
shoulder additional costs to transfer around 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to
Guam, the sources said.
Sengoku, however, said the government had not heard from the United States that
the transfer could be delayed beyond the current target of 2014.
The government's top spokesman made the remarks following a senior U.S.
official's testimony before a congressional panel on Tuesday that the transfer
may not be realized by the target year due to a shortage of infrastructure on
Guam.
''We hope to do this through mutual cooperation as promised and there has been
no notification from the United States that it has given up on the 2014
transfer or stopped it,'' Sengoku said.
The transfer of Marines from the Japanese island to the U.S. Pacific territory
is a pillar of the bilateral accord forged in 2006 on the realignment of U.S.
forces in Japan.
If the Marines' redeployment is delayed, it is likely to affect the overall
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, including the relocation of the Marines
Corps' Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, as they are all part of a package,
analysts say.
''We believe that the United States will live up to its promise,'' Sengoku said.
The agreement said the total cost of the transfer will be $10.27 billion, of
which Japan will shoulder around $6.09 billion.
But the U.S. government said recently that developing infrastructure, such as
facilities for electricity as well as water and sewerage, will cost more than
previously expected, according to the sources.
On Tuesday, Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, assistant secretary of the navy in charge
of energy, installations and environment issues, said in prepared testimony
before the panel that the Department of Defense ''recognizes that Guam has
existing infrastructure deficiencies that could affect the ability of DoD to
execute the program on an aggressive construction schedule.''
==Kyodo
2010-07-28 23:34:38


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