Japan to Come Up with Idea on Futenma Issue by March-End: Hatoyama

Tokyo, March 4 (Jiji Press)--Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
indicated Thursday that the Japanese government plans to pick a candidate
site for the transfer of a key U.S. Marine base in Okinawa, southern Japan,
within this month before a final decision is made by the end of May.

Hatoyama told reporters that his government has to come up with its
idea about the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in
the city of Ginowan at some point in March.
Reiterating his resolve to reach a final decision on the Futenma
relocation by the end of May, Hatoyama said that the Japanese government may
run out of time for negotiations with Washington on the issue if Japan fails
to come up with its idea by the end of this month.
The Hatoyama government is expected to explore a possibility of
relocating the Futenma base to an onshore area within the Marine Corps' Camp
Schwab in Nago, another city in Okinawa, informed sources said.
But the government looks certain to face strong opposition from
local communities in Okinawa and the Social Democratic Party, one of the two
junior members of the ruling coalition led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of
Japan.
In 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to relocate the Futenma
base to a coastal area of the Camp Schwab as part of a package of measures
to realign U.S. forces in Japan. While Hatoyama's government, launched last
year, is reviewing the plan, the United States is urging Tokyo to push ahead
with the Futenma relocation in accordance with the 2006 agreement.
Hatoyama told reporters that the Japanese government is not yet
ready to hold negotiations with the U.S. side and local governments in
Okinawa. But he added that he has plans on how to proceed with the talks.
A senior Japanese government official said that moving the Futenma
base to a Camp Schwab onshore area would be the best option, adding that the
government has no better alternative. The official noted that Hatoyama,
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano share the view.
Regarding noise concerns related to the Futenma base relocation to
the onshore area, the official said a provisional measure could be the
solution. The People's New Party, the other junior coalition member, has
proposed that the Futenma base be provisionally relocated to the Camp Schwab
for a period of 15 years.
But SDP Secretary-General Yasumasa Shigeno said Thursday that the
Futenma base should not be allowed to remain in Okinawa.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters at the Okinawa
prefectural government office in Naha, the capital city of the prefecture,
that the Camp Schwab option is difficult due to noise concerns.
Nago Mayor Suzumu Inamine has also expressed his opposition to the
Camp Schwab option.
Kitazawa and Hirano held talks with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John
Roos Tuesday to explain progress in the Japanese government's work on the
Futenma relocation issue.
As Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian
and Pacific affairs, is set to visit Japan later this month, the Japanese
and U.S. governments are expected to start talks fully on the Futenma base
issue.


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