Nago mayor rejects new Futenma relocation plan
2010/02/14 17:18(JST)
The mayor of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, has again indicated that he will reject any proposal to relocate the US Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to the city.
Mayor Susumu Inamine was responding to a new proposal by a junior coalition partner, the People's New Party, to build a helicopter runway at the US Camp Schwab in Nago.
The party will present the idea to a government panel on Wednesday along with another proposal to merge Futenma with the US Kadena Air Base, also in Okinawa.
Inamine told NHK that he has consistently opposed building a new military facility anywhere in Nago.
The Nago mayor urged the government to respect the opinions of the people who elected him last month.
He plans to travel to Tokyo this week to ask government officials to give up the idea of relocating the air station to Nago.
Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to build a runway in a coastal area of Camp Schwab as an alternative to Futenma.
But the current government that took power last year is considering other options, including relocating the air station outside Okinawa.
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