HAGATNA, Guam (Kyodo) The Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. commonwealth including Tinian, is willing to host the whole U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma now in Okinawa, local leaders said Wednesday, citing the economic benefits.
While the commonwealth governor, Benigno Fitial, did not specify which region may be the prime candidate site, Tinian Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz told Kyodo News earlier in the day that his island can accept the marine units.
"We welcome anything that will benefit the commonwealth," Fitial told reporters on Saipan after discussing, with Japanese ruling bloc legislators handling the Futenma base issue, the feasibility of hosting the units in the Pacific, especially on Tinian.
Fitial said relocating the base to the commonwealth would "invite the economic benefit in terms of employment . . . most importantly, economic benefit that will be received from the lease of the land."
The governor meanwhile said he realizes full backing of the U.S. government is indispensable to his future hope to push ahead with the idea.
He met with legislators from the Social Democratic Party's Tomoko Abe and Mikio Shimoji of Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party), both policy chiefs of the coalition partners of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.