The Okinawa Prefectural Government officially accepted a central government request August 1 to conduct borings at a site off Nago on the east coast of Okinawa Island as part of a survey for a sea-based U.S. military heliport facility, prefectural officials said.

Jiro Hagi, the Defense Facilities Administration Agency chief, said August 1 that his agency will complete the survey, part of a feasibility study, at 11 points by the end of this month off Camp Schwab, a U.S. Marine Corps base. The agency also plans to finish test borings and studies of tidal and wave effects at four other, deeper points by the end of October, Hagi said.

According to the final report released late last year by the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa, a bilateral working group is to formulate a detailed implementation plan by no later than December. To meet the deadline, Tokyo must complete a report on the feasibility study by December, while Washington is to draw up the operational requirements.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto insists that Tokyo and Washington will not bypass local Okinawan opinion to make a final decision, but Hagi said his agency is being pressed for time for winning local approval by December.

Nago citizens opposed to the the new heliport reportedly out of environmental concerns rallied at the area to prevent the survey from being carried out, according to the agency. "We're already running the feasibility study four months later than initially planned," Hagi said, hinting that the two governments will draw up the implementation plan before getting consensus from the locals.