Government plans to take Henoko fight again to court

The Government of Japan informed Okinawa Prefecture, Thursday, of its intention to file a lawsuit against the prefecture over Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga’s cancellation of the landfill approval in Henoko that had been given in 2013 by his predecessor Hirokazu Nakaima.

The central government announced its intention to take the prefecture government to the court at the second meeting of a working group that was set up on the orders of a court to resolve the dispute of the transfer of the MCAS Futenma to Henoko. Both governments remain stuck in their respective positions and the working group has not been able to make any progress in the dispute.

Governor Onaga opposes the base transfer with a strong backing from local residents.

Although the central government is going to take the prefecture to the court, the prefecture continues to call for resolving the issue through discussions.

The central government also said in the meeting it’s considering resuming onshore work at Henoko, stating that work on land is not covered by the high court-mediated settlement that ordered the suspension of the landfill work.

13:47 29 Mar , 2024