Kadena mayor objects to base merger plan in Okinawa, raps gov`t+

TOKYO, Nov. 5 Kyodo -
The mayor of Kadena in Okinawa Prefecture voiced his objection Thursday to a
plan advocated by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to consolidate a major U.S.
air base in his town with another U.S. airfield, the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma
Air Station, located nearby.
Mayor Tokujitsu Miyagi also blasted the government led by Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama for not reaching a conclusion concerning the relocation of the Futemma
air station and insisted the facility should be transferred out of Okinawa.
Miyagi complained at a meeting of opposition Liberal Democratic Party
representatives that the town residents have long been tormented by accidents
involving aircraft at the U.S. Kadena Air Base and noise from drills.
''The noise of Kadena is three times worse than that of Futemma. We are always
exposed to danger (of accidents) as well,'' the mayor said. ''Who can say the
Kadena base is safer than the Futemma facility?''
Okada has proposed Futemma's heliport functions be merged with the nearby
Kadena Air Base, though the plan was considered and dismissed during past
negotiations between Tokyo and Washington on U.S. forces realignment due to
operational difficulties and local protests.
The minister said he favors the base merger plan because the Kadena base
already has a runway, and it would take less time to relocate Futemma than the
current plan under a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord to build V-shaped runways in the
coastal area of Nago, northern Okinawa, by 2014.
Miyagi said a recent opinion poll showed 77 percent of Kadena town residents
are opposed to Okada's plan and that if the minister visits the town to pitch
his idea, he will face an ''outburst of anger and indignation'' from locals.
The mayor said all three air base-hosting municipalities -- the towns of Kadena
and Chatan as well as Okinawa city -- object to Okada's consolidation plan and
said it would be a waste of time for the minister to try to persuade them into
accepting it.
Where to relocate the Futemma airfield has recently emerged as a major sticking
point between the United States and the new Japanese government, as Hatoyama
has expressed his eagerness to move the facility out of Okinawa or even out of
Japan.
The proposal would go against the 2006 pact to move heliport functions of the
Futemma air station in Ginowan to Nago. The premier has also suggested he would
take time to find a solution to the matter.
Miyagi sarcastically said Hatoyama should consider relocating the Futemma
facility to his constituency in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture, and
urged him to make a decision on the relocation issue soon.
The mayor also said Mikio Shimoji, a House of Representatives member of the
ruling coalition partner People's New Party elected from Okinawa, proposed
during their meeting in early October a plan to set a 15-year time limit on the
use of the Kadena base after transferring the Futemma functions there.
Shimoji brought up the idea ahead of a visit to Washington by Akihisa
Nagashima, parliamentary defense secretary, over the relocation issue, but
Miyagi said he rejected it at that time.
Last week, the Kadena town assembly adopted a motion demanding Okada retract
his proposal on consolidating the Futemma and Kadena facilities. The town
assembly of Chatan has taken a similar action.
==Kyodo