Resolution proposal demanding U.S. government perform Oura Bay survey adopted at Veterans for Peace convention
August 19, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
Hanayo Oya reports from Spokane
On August 17, at the annual convention of the peace organization Veterans for Peace (VFP), which is currently being held in Spokane, Washington, members voted unanimously in favor of a proposed resolution opposing the construction of a new U.S. military base in Henoko, Okinawa.
The resolution calls on the U.S. government to perform its own on-site survey of the situation at Oura Bay.
Each year at VFP’s annual convention, a business meeting attended by the directors and members is held, and there resolutions opposing such issues as environmental destruction and military intervention in other countries by the U.S. military are discussed.
The proposed resolution submitted by VFP-ROCK (Ryukyu/Okinawa Chapter Kokusai) members explains that the seafloor in Oura Bay is weak, that around 77,000 piles will need to be driven into the ground, and that a prefectural referendum held in February of this year showed roughly 72% of voters expressing opposition to the new base construction.
It goes on to express VFP’s demand to the U.S. Defense Department and the Government Accountability Office, a federal investigative body, that the U.S. perform its own on-site survey of Oura Bay.
Following discussion, the resolution was agreed upon unanimously.
This marks the fourth time an anti-Henoko-base resolution has been adopted by VFP since 2016.
This resolution was the first to call on the U.S. government directly to perform a survey without going through the Japanese government.
“We have called on the Japanese government to stop the construction many times, and it has led nowhere. I hope we can make a breakthrough by having VFP make a unanimous demand to the U.S. government directly,” said VFP-ROCK member Yoshikazu Makishi.
Voting will be open to all VFP members around October as to whether to adopt, as the consensus of all of VFP, the resolution proposal adopted at the annual convention.
(English translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)
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