Sides raise stakes at Henoko fight, court battle looms

The Centra; Government issued a final warning to Okinawa Prefecture and Governor Takeshi Onaga before a possible legal action, as Land and Infrastructure Minister Keiichi Ishii “instructed” Governor Takeshi Onaga to remove all obstacles to the construction of a U.S. military facility in a letter sent to the governor..

Specifically, Ishii told to retract his revocation of permission granted by his predecessor Hirokazu Nakaima for the central government to reclaim land off the Henoko district of Nago for the replacement facility for the MCAS Futenma.

Ishii ordered Onaga to comply within three days after the letter that was sent by mail on Nov. 9. If Onaga rejects the demand, the central government plans to file a lawsuit with a high court as early as next week to demand the nullification of the landfill permission.

Onaga said at a news conference on Nov. 9th he would handle the written instruction according to the law after reading it.

On the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga the same day rejected Onaga’s argument that there were “legal defects” in the initial landfill permission.

The case is likely to head for the Supreme Court after the hearing in the high court.

  • ewacloser

    This is destined to go on for quite some time.

23:01 28 Mar , 2024