Advocacy Groups Urge US Congress To Halt Military Base Construction In Okinawa

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2019) More than a dozen advocacy groups in a letter to the US House Armed Services Committee called on the United States to temporarily halt construction of a military base in Okinawa, Japan that threatens endangered marine mammals.

Last month Okinawa held a referendum, with majority of the voters opposing the construction, according to the rights groups. Earlier this month, Okinawa's Governor Denny Tamaki urged Japan's Defense Ministry to stop work on the project as well.

"We request your assistance in urging the US Department of Defense to temporarily stop all construction activities in Henoko and Oura bays in Okinawa, Japan," the letter said on Tuesday.

The construction project "could wipe out the Okinawa dugong, one of earth's most endangered marine mammals," the letter said.

There is an ongoing lawsuit against the Department of Defense for failure to comply with US environmental laws that require evaluation of the construction's threat to endangered species in the region.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, Animal Welfare Institute, and 10 other nonprofit organizations co-signed the letter.