Association of War-Bereaved Families protests soil collection plan for construction in Henoko

Association of War-Bereaved Families protests soil collection plan for construction in Henoko

September 3 off the coast on Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago City (photographed by small drone)


December 18, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

On November 11 the Association of War-Bereaved Families Opposed to War and Praying for Peace held a protest against the plan for collecting soil from the southern part of Okinawa Island and using the soil for land reclamation work in Henoko. The Association sent urgent notices to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, among others, requesting that this plan for soil collection be stopped. Takamatsu Gushiken, the president of the Gamafuya, a volunteer group dedicated to the recovery of remains of the Battle of Okinawa, has been asking the Okinawa Prefectural Government and the Okinawa Defense Bureau to put a stop to this soil collection plan, but this is the first time the Association of War-Bereaved Families has protested and asked for the soil collection to stop.

In the notice letter, the Association criticizes the plan for collecting large quantities of soil from the southern part of Okinawa Island and using the soil in the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility in Henko, saying: “The prayers of bereaved families are being ignored, and we absolutely cannot permit soil [collection] as well as land reclamation”. The letter contains the request that soil collection, as part of the plan pertaining to FRF construction in Henoko, be stopped in all regions in which war-fallen soldiers are resting in peace. This notice was also sent to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Norihisa Tamura; the Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi; and the Minister of State for Okinawa Affairs Taro Kono.

(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)

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