Feb 5 (Wed): Japan’s “omoiyari” coverage for U.S. military base cost in Japan is unusually high / More than 1,000 truckloads shipped out

News papers have reported that Japanese government has shown the most lenient “omoiyari” in sharing the cost of U.S. military bases in Japan, compared to other allied countries. Per a report made by U.S. government on 27 allied countries, Japan paid, in 2019, JPY197.4 billion which was 5 to 20 times more than Korea, Italy, or England paid. Japan’s “omoiyari” for U.S military bases in Japan has extended to cover the expenses originally excluded from “omoiyari”; such as compnsation pay for the base service workers, payment for the base utilities, and training cost for the base service workers. Now the coverage has been further extended to include luxurious family housing and amusement facilities in the bases. It is calculated to be JPY12.93 million (US$106,000) per soldier, which is 3.8 – 4.8 times more than Italy or Korea pays. Japan pays 74.5% of the cost of U.S. bases in Japan, whereas Korea pays 40%, and Germany pays 32.6%.

President Trump demands coverage increase to allied countries starting from 2021; absurd increase of 5 times more to Korea and 4.5 times more to Japan. Abe Administration, a slave to Trump Administration, has not said a word on this matter.

(In front of the Camp Schwab Gate)
Approximately 40 people resumed the sit-in in the light rain at 8:40am. Ms. Simabukurao Fumiko, 90 years old, was in the front row of the sit-in. All protestors were removed in 15 minutes, and 84 trucks made deliveries. In the afternoon, 2 more rounds of deliveries were made, which made the day’s total delivery to 210 truckloads.

(In fron of Ryukyu Cement Awa Pier)
Approximately 50 members of Shimagurumi members from the cities of Uruma and Itoman joined the protest rally. Singing songs they stood against the dump trucks and held placards that say “No red soil!”
Mr. Higa Kojiro (80 yrs old) of Kadena Town appealed through a microphone, “Does the replacement facility in Henoko insure the evacuation of US forces from Futenma and return of Futenma to Okinawa? We do not need a base. Not in Kadena, not in Futenma or in Henoko.”
722 truckloads of earth/sand were loaded to 3 cargo ships.
The Canoe team, with 11 canoes, rallied on sea and successfully delayed departure of one ship for about 1 hour.

(In front of the Shiokawa Pier in Motobu Town)
Approximately 10 people stook in front of the trucks from 7:10am and delayed loading operation for more than 2 hours. In the afternoon, 4 members of GoGo Drive campaign drove within the pier gounds and caused some delay in truck traffic.
The earth/sand of 301 truckloads were loaded to 2 cargo ships.

 

Total number of dump trucks to date and percentage against the total

The weight and the volume of earth/soil were estimated per experts’ advice
Number of dump trucks which made delivery from December 2018 to the end of December 2019      114,601

3(Mon) 4(Tue) 5(Wed) 6(Thr) 7(Fri) 8(Sat)
Awa 809 924 722
Shiokawa 244 409 301

 

Number of dump trucks
Weightt of earth/sand

※①

Converted to volume

※②

Volume per Total

※③

134,794 808,764t 404,382㎥ 1.961%
※ Cumulative since Dec. 1, 2019
※① Calculated by assuming that the average truckload per dump truck would be 6 tons
※② Calculated by assuming that a specific weight of soil/sand set to be 2
※③ Percentage against 20.620.000m3, the total volume of earth and sand required for the landfill.

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