Tokyo: Prime Minister of Japan Yukio
Hatoyama said on Wednesday he has own plan in mind about where to
relocate the US Marine Corps` Air Station located in Futemma
in Okinawa Prefecture.
"I have my own plan in my mind," he said in the Diet
debate with opposition Liberal Democratic Party leader
Sadakazu Tanigaki. "Ministers concerned are aware it exists
and are working with this in mind."
Declining to elaborate, Hatoyama said the government will
not push forward with the plan before obtaining the consent of
local residents.
The premier also called on the public to share burdens
that the people of Okinawa have shouldered in hosting the bulk
of US bases in Japan.
Japan is seeking an alternative to a current plan to move
the Futemma facility in the crowded city of Ginowan to a
coastal area of the Marines` Camp Schwab in Nago, also in
Okinawa. The current plan was finalized between the two
countries in 2006, with an eye to its completion by 2014.
In the debate, Hatoyama said the elimination of risks
that the facility imposes on the local populace should be
completed by 2014.
"I will stake my life on addressing the (relocation)
issue," the premier said. "And I will definitely show
successful results."
PTI
