WASHINGTON (Kyodo) In a sign of its displeasure over lack of progress on the relocation of a marine base in Okinawa, a U.S. Senate committee has cut outlays for the planned transfer of marines from the prefecture to Guam, a document obtained by Kyodo News on Tuesday showed.
The Senate Armed Services Committee reduced the outlays by some $320 million, or 70 percent, from the government-proposed level under an amendment to the defense authorization bill for fiscal 2011 that it passed late last month.
According to the document, the panel cut funding because Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima has not yet approved a land reclamation plan for coastal waters to build the replacement for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan. Japan and the United States released a statement on May 28 on a fresh agreement that will see the Futenma base moved to the Henoko coast in the prefecture in line with an accord struck in 2006.
But Nakaima has yet to approve any specific land reclamation plan for the facility, stating it would be extremely difficult to implement the Japan-U.S. agreement on the relocation due to strong opposition from local residents.
The panel's document notes that action to obtain the governor's permit "has been indefinitely delayed" and effectively urged the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain such a permit as a certification that "tangible progress" has been made on the issue to restore to funding that has been cut.
The fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill could remain available for more amendments before the fiscal year starts in October. In deliberations on the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill last year, the Senate once passed a heavy cut in outlays for the relocation of marines and eventually withdrew it.