ONE SMALL STEP FOR THE FUTENMA REPLACEMENT FACILITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAHA 000204 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MARR PGOV JA SUBJECT: ONE SMALL STEP FOR THE FUTENMA REPLACEMENT FACILITY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In the first tangible step towards building the Marine Corps Airs Station Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF),late the afternoon of September 15 the Okinawa Defense Facilities Administration Bureau (DFAB) and Nago City Board of Education officials entered Camp Schwab to begin a cultural assets survey. Despite protestors blocking the gates, blanket media coverage and some city officials' initial reluctance to enter into the fray, the GOJ proved itself willing to use suasion and force, including the police, to take a necessary preliminary step toward construction on Camp Schwab in support of the FRF. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The afternoon of September 14, 30 - 40 protestors at the front gate of Camp Schwab successfully blocked members of DFAB and the Nago City Education Board from entering the site for the MCAS Futenma replacement facility. DFAB and Education Board officials need to enter Camp Schwab to conduct a cultural assets survey, which is required along with an Environmental Impact Assessment prior to beginning construction of the FRF. Although city education board officials retreated after only five minutes of confrontation on September 14, DFAB officials did enter Camp Schwab that day to begin the survey, according to DFAB Deputy Director Mamoru IKEBE. Ikebe told us he was under a lot of pressure from Tokyo to make sure the surveys were done on schedule, and not get pushed away by protestors as had happened with the aborted environmental surveys in support of the 1996 Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) FRF plan. ¶3. (SBU) Okinawa Prefectural Police (OPP) officials arrived at Camp Schwab the following morning of September 15 and began clearing protestors in order to allow DFAB and Nago City officials again to enter the base. The OPP informed us it had sent 20 police to Camp Schwab and estimated about 30 people were blocking the gate. DFAB officials entered the base, but Nago City Board of Education officials turned back without entering Camp Schwab before the OPP finished clearing the protesters. ¶4. (SBU) According to the account of events given us by Nago City Mayor Yoshikazu SHIMABUKURO, the Mayor then ordered Nago Board of Education Superintendent Susumu INAMINE to conduct the survey. Shimabukuro said Japanese Defense Agency (JDA) officials in Tokyo were pressuring him, too, to make the survey happen. Shimabukuro said he would not give in to the protestors, and criticized the OPP for not doing more to prevent protestors from blocking the entrance to Camp Schwab. He complained that OPP knew there would be protestors and should have supplied more police protection to better control the situation. He also complained that some of the board members sympathized with the protestors, and that was why they had turned away so quickly. The fact that Shimabukuro, as well as DFAB officials, had pushed Board of Education officials to return to Camp Schwab was widely reported by the local press. NAHA 00000204 002 OF 002 ¶5. (SBU) At 1645 on September 15 the DFAB requested permission to re-enter Camp Schwab the same day, which Marine Corps Bases Japan granted. DFAB's Ikebe confirmed that three of the Nago City Board of Education's experts on cultural assets did begin the survey, adding he appreciated the Marines' help in providing access that late in the day. The DFAB told reporters that, with the introduction of three cultural experts into Camp Schwab, the survey had clearly been effected. ¶6. (U) Superintendent Inamine told reporters that his experts had not conducted a survey, as there were too few of them, and they had too little time. What they had done was assess where and what kind of survey should be conducted, he continued, and further surveys would occur after September 19. Superintendent Inamine stressed to the press that his job is to protect cultural assets. In one article, the Ryukyu Shimpo remarked that events showed the Board of Education's intention to continue the survey despite protests. Another article cited a highly placed member of the prefectural governor's staff complaining about the GOJ's strong-arm tactics in carrying out the survey. In separate analytical pieces, the Ryukyu Shimpo claimed that the flow of events and conflicting statements brought into sharp relief the growing divisions between the GOJ, OPG, and Nago City. ¶7. (U) Both daily newspapers noted that MOFA's Special Ambassador on Okinawa Issues Shigeie told reporters that moving ahead with the FRF was an important part of easing the burden on the people of Okinawa. He said the GOJ anticipated that by gaining people's understanding and proceeding with GOJ plans it would be possible to close MCAS Futenma and return it to its owners. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: In this first showdown with demonstrators at the gate of Camp Schwab, the GOJ demonstrated a previously unseen willingness to twist arms and follow through, including using the police to remove demonstrators. DFAB's Ikebe and Nago City Mayor Shimabukuro both said they were receiving intense pressure from Tokyo to ensure the Board of Education survey team entered Camp Schwab on schedule. They, in turn, put pressure on the Board of Education, which finally went in for its preliminary assessment. ¶9. (SBU) Although the local anti-base newspapers were slow to admit the protestors had failed to keep the Board of Education team from entering Camp Schwab, and highlighted the limited purpose of the Board of Education's September 15 visit, the local media in general recognized this was a significant step forward on the FRF plan. In our view it is a positive sign that at the first attempt by opponents to use physical means to block progress on FRF, the government authorities chose to call in the police, and not to back down. This bodes well for implementation of the FRF project. MAHER