The fate of the contentious plan to open the floodgates of the Isahaya Bay dike protecting filled-in land in Nagasaki Prefecture has become even more uncertain now that a district court has ruled that the government must keep them closed, in direct contradiction to an earlier ruling by a high court.
Torn between the conflicting rulings, the government is now faced with the difficult decision of whether to open the floodgates, as demanded by local fishermen, or leave them shut as sought by farmers using the reclaimed land.
The Nagasaki District Court issued an injunction Tuesday barring the government from opening the floodgates, which it had planned to open by Dec. 20.