(In front of the Gate)
In a drizzle, from 9:00am, 44 people resumed the sit-in. Eight students who graduate from Ritsumeikan University to be employed by newspaper companies from this spring, came to join our protest. One student told us quietly, “I am glad that I came here. Experiencing the action will help me to understand better.” Also joined in action was a group of 15 who came from Kanagawa and Tokyo.
Due to a holiday observed by many local firms for a new year per the old lunar calendar, the number of deliveries made was smaller than the usual. It was 239 truckloads in total for the day.
(In front of Ryukyu Cement Pier)
No delivery of dirt and sand.
(On the sea)
Due to high waves, no protest action was conducted.
(Other)
On Feb. 5, a Coalition Against a Helicopter Port Construction held a press conference to protest that Okinawa Defense Bureau acquired private information including facial photos of the protesters from a marine security service company. The Coalition also criticized that the Bureau adopted a policy to refuse the entry of the Coalition members into the Bureau office building.
An ex-employee of a company called Marine Security that had been under a security service contract until November 2 years ago testified that a daily report of names and facial photos of the protesters was made to the Bureau. The claim was denied by the Bureau that “no evidence exists that we instructed the company to make a list”. However, it is possible that some wireless communication and reports could reveal the existence. The company currently under a service contract, Central Security Protection, also takes pictures of the protesters on the sea.
