The government may apply next month to bring in earth to fill in a coastal area in Okinawa where a U.S. Marine Corps air base is to be relocated, ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's trip to the United States, government sources said Thursday.
Abe, who has criticized the previous government, led by the Democratic Party of Japan, for its handling of the stalled base replacement effort, hopes to showcase his new government's readiness to tackle the issue by proceeding with the planned construction.
The application must be filed with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, who has the power to authorize such land filling in publicly owned waters, but the move would most certainly worsen the public opposition in Okinawa to the planned new airbase.