With the base cluster at 255 and another drunk driving suspect, Okinawa’s governor’s reproach: “Lax discipline coupled with inept management!” (26de21)

A huge cluster of Covid-19 has occurred at the US Military Camp Hansen base. Meanwhile on 25 December, the Naha Police arrested a US Marine corporal (24) stationed at the same base on suspicion of being in the act of violating the Road Traffic Law (drunk driving) by driving a motorbike while in a drunken condition. 


Just after dawn on the morning of 21 December, a US Marine lance corporal from the very same base had also been arrested on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Law (drunk driving). So, on 21 December, the Prefecture requested that all military personnel employed at Camp Hansen and their dependents be prohibited from leaving the base. However, the laxity of discipline on the base has once again become apparent.


On hearing the news that a marine stationed at Camp Hansen was arrested in the act on suspicion of drunk driving, Governor Denny Tamaki issued this harsh criticism in a document, “Their military discipline is incredibly lax, coupled with what I can only call inept management. Utterly deplorable!” He pointed out, “They completely fail to understand the anxiety of the people of our prefecture who are putting great effort into thorough measures to prevent contagion.” The governor again pleaded for the necessity of self-discipline  to prevent a recurrence of the infection, “I strongly beg of you to put your all into defeating this disease.”


As a partial defense for his actions, the corporal stated  at the Naha Police Station, “ I drank alcohol  but not enough to get arrested.” He was arrested on suspicion of DUI on 25 December at about 6 minutes after midnight. The suspicion arose as he was driving a motorbike in Matsuyama, District 2, in Naha. A police officer saw the corporal driving the motorbike without a helmet and with a passenger. He realized the drinking while inquiring about the corporal’s occupation.


The arrest site was a bar district in Matsuyama in Naha. The police officer claims the corporal said he was at a bar in Naha from 5 p.m. until around midnight on 25 December, drinking beer and whiskey. The man riding on the back of the motorbike was also a marine stationed at Camp Hansen.


As of 25 December, the Covid-19 infection tally totaled 255. Some base workers and people associated with the military have been confirmed positive for the Omicron strain of Covid-19.


Original Japanese article: Ryukyu Shimpo, published Sunday 26 December 2021 at 06:04

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/a9f2570bdc80b985bb9a1c86c0c3457cdb39c2ae


Translator’s note:

Denny in the News: news about Okinawan Governor Denny Tamaki.

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 

  1. This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 

  2. Any suggestion on improving the translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.

  3. Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated.

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