The controversial Yoshino River dam project will be scrapped if residents of Tokushima hold a plebiscite and a majority of the voters oppose it, Construction Minister Katsutsugu Sekiya said Tuesday.

Sekiya's comment marks a turnaround from the ministry's earlier position that a local plebiscite should not decide the fate of such projects.

In February, the 40-member Tokushima Municipal Assembly, in a 22-16 vote with one abstention, rejected a petition bearing about 100,000 signatures to hold a plebiscite to gauge local opinions. The signatures, presented by opponents of the dam project, accounted for roughly half of the local electorate.