The Nagasaki Prefectural Government and the central government remained at loggerheads Wednesday over a proposal to temporarily halt a reclamation project and open a dike across Isahaya Bay, government officials said Wednesday.

The two governments' inability to agree was confirmed during a meeting between the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Yoshio Yatsu, and Nagasaki Gov. Genjiro Kaneko, the officials said.

The governor called on Yatsu a day after the farm minister expressed his willingness to suspend the Isahaya Bay reclamation work in order to analyze the quality of water in the 1,710-hectare reservoir behind the dike.