US, Japan Confirm Plans To Relocate Marine Base On Okinawa Despite Public Opposition

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2019) The United States and Japan have reconfirmed their plans to relocate the US Marine Corps base on Okinawa to a less populated area, the US Department of State said in a press release on Friday.

In a February referendum more than 72 percent of Okinawa residents voted against the plan to relocate the base. The referendum saw a 52 percent turnout.

"The Ministers... welcomed the significant progress on the Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF) and reconfirmed that the plan to construct the FRF at the Camp Schwab-Henokosaki area and adjacent waters is the only solution that avoids the continued use of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma," the release said. "The Ministers underscored their strong determination to achieve its completion as soon as possible.

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Earlier on Friday, the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee, which included US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Toro Kono, and Japanese Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya, convened in Washington, D.C., the release added.

The plan is to relocate the US air base from the prefecture's city of Ginowan to a less populated area, Henoko Bay.

Denny Tamaki, the governor of Japan's southern Okinawa Prefecture, told Sputnik on April 10 that he was considering a visit to the United States in order to convey the opposition of the prefecture's residents to the relocation of US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma expressed in the latest referendum.