LEAD: High court backs halt to reclamation project for Okinawa mudflat

Thursday, October 15, 2009 4:29 AM

NAHA, Oct. 15, 2009 (Kyodo News International) --
(Editors: ADDING INFO)

The Fukuoka High Court on Thursday ordered the suspension of public spending for a project to reclaim the Awase mudflat in the city of Okinawa for development of an artificial resort island, upholding a lower court ruling.

The ruling by the high court's Naha branch makes it more likely that the project involving the central, prefectural and city governments will be halted as land minister Seiji Maehara has expressed his willingness to abort the project while leaving a final decision until after the high court ruling.

Promoted by the local governments and the business community as a way to lessen economic dependence on U.S. military bases, the two-phase landfill project covering around 187 hectares, including part of the Awase tideland, is currently in its first phase.

About 510 plaintiffs, including residents of the city of Okinawa, sued the prefectural and city governments in 2005 claiming that the project would destroy the ecosystem in one of the largest mudflats on Japan's southern tropical islands, which is home to rare wildlife.

Okinawa Mayor Mitsuko Tomon said in December 2007 that the city office would go ahead with the first phase on the premise that the project would be reviewed, while acknowledging it would be difficult to advance to the second phase.

At the high court, Presiding Judge Yoshinori Kawabe determined that there is no economic rationale for the project at this moment and spending on it is illegal under the Local Autonomy and other laws, upholding the ruling at the Naha District Court in November last year.

Under the project, the central government would reclaim 178 hectares for about 30.8 billion yen -- 50 hectares of which would be managed by the prefectural government and the rest sold to the prefectural and city offices. The prefectural government would also spend 18.1 billion yen to reclaim the remaining 9.2 hectares.

Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Maehara has said since the Democratic Party of Japan-led government was launched in mid-September that the new government plans to stop the first phase of the project and to cancel the second phase as part of its review of public works projects.

Asked if the central government will do as Maehara has indicated, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a news conference following the high court ruling, ''I believe we will go with that way of thinking.''

The top government spokesman also said the government will handle the issue by taking local circumstances into account.

(Source: iStockAnalyst )


10/15/2009 6:37:46 AM by Peter Simpson What Awase needs now is a government supported restoration and conservation project on at least the same scale as that so far devoted to its destruction. This would have to be a labour intensive project, as repairing the environmental vandalism which has been committed by projects so far and restoring the coastline to something like its original condition is bound to be a delicate job. Awase should be protected under the international Ramsar convention on important coastal wetlands, and, on the evidence of the past few years of destruction, really needs this protection. This should not be a precursor to announcing a marine reserve in the north of the island to protect Henoko and Oura Bay from the similarly catastrophic proposal to destroy the reef in order to create a new military facility. Over the last few decades the priority has been seizing productive land for destructive purposes, both military and civilian. The reversal of this policy will be a long-term challenge, but would transform Okinawa into a role model, rather than a microcosm of the folly of development at all costs. Reply Rating: (0) (0)

What Awase needs now is a government supported restoration and conservation project on at least the same scale as that so far devoted to its destruction.

This would have to be a labour intensive project, as repairing the environmental vandalism which has been committed by projects so far and restoring the coastline to something like its original condition is bound to be a delicate job.

Awase should be protected under the international Ramsar convention on important coastal wetlands, and, on the evidence of the past few years of destruction, really needs this protection.

This should not be a precursor to announcing a marine reserve in the north of the island to protect Henoko and Oura Bay from the similarly catastrophic proposal to destroy the reef in order to create a new military facility.

Over the last few decades the priority has been seizing productive land for destructive purposes, both military and civilian.

The reversal of this policy will be a long-term challenge, but would transform Okinawa into a role model, rather than a microcosm of the folly of development at all costs.

Rating: (0) (0)

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