The government said Monday that it plans to begin full-fledged land reclamation work on Dec. 14 for the construction of a controversial replacement facility for a U.S. air base in the Henoko coastal area of Okinawa Prefecture.
The government began loading soil and sand onto vessels in the morning in Okinawa in preparation for relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area in the city of Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district of Nago under a Japan-U.S. agreement.
"Relocating the base to Henoko is the only way to lighten Okinawa's (base-hosting) burdens and realize the return of (land occupied by) Futenma," Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters the same day. He also answered in the affirmative when asked if the ministry will carry out the reclamation work, adding that it would do so "with unwavering resolve."