US Headquarters announces a change of schedule, “Henoko won’t be completed until 2037 at the earliest.” (10no23)
Splendor of Okinawa: Rain lily, roadside Uruma, 11oc23 The U.S. Military Futenma Airfield in Ginowan is scheduled to be relocated to Henoko in Nago , both in Okinawa. However, the US Military Headquarters in Okinawa confirmed on 7 November in its briefing to a news organization related to U.S. Military activities, its expectation, “The alternate facility won’t be completed until at least 2035.” On the strategic value of the chosen site, the HQ added, “Futenma is far superior to Henoko”, noting also that the weak seabed along the Henoko coast at the site of the planned landfill will have to be reinforced. So, even if the consent of Okinawa Prefecture Governor Denny Tamaki were to be obtained, the Defense Ministry itself estimates that, from the start of reinforcement work to the availability of the base, it will take 12 years. At the briefing held at Futenma Airfield, the US Military HQ noted that the completion would be in 2037 ‘at the earliest’. As for the V-shaped runway design ...