Coronavirus is spreading in Okinawa. Japan declared on 29th that no entry is permitted from China, Korea, and U.S.A., which will give a great damage on Okinawa’s economy that depends largely on tourism..
As of 30th, 10 persons were reportedly infected in Okinawa Prefeture of which 2 were U.S. soldiers stationed at Kadena Base. Okinawa municipal government has limited access to information of the base, which excludes their contact-tracing. It is not yet clear if they live within or outside of the base.
This is not an isolated case. Similar cases are abundant. To name a few: foam fire extinguishing agents used in the base polluted nearby waterways, highly poisonous dioxin was found in the soil of the former base. Such cases are not resolved yet and still presents safety risks to the area residents.
Extra-territorial rights granted to U.S. forces in Japan are larger and more extensive than those granted in Germany and Italy that also have U.S. bases within their territories. We do not have a right to conduct an investigation within a base. We only wait for their permission to go inside a base. Such practice happens only in a colony. In the battle against coronavirus, a big barrier is “the walls of U.S. bases”.
(In front of the Camp Schwab Gate)
Hired civilian guards were standing without a mask all day long. According to a source, the emloyer says “no need to wear a mask”. No guards at Awa and Shiokawa wore a mask.
The employer gets several millions of yen per day under a contract to provide security guard service, which translates tens of thousands of yen per guard per day. But a guard gets only 8,000-10,000 yean per day. The employer doesn’t spare mere tens of yen per mask to protect their employees’ health and life in order to secure his excessive profit. It is not a company but a profiteer. It is a so-called “black company” itself.
Total 205 truckloads were delivered for the day.
(In front of Ryukyu Cement Awa Pier)
In a drizzle, approximately 20 people rallied in protest at the entrance and the exit of the pier. Members of the GoGo Drive campaign with 13 cars drove slowly on the national highway to slow down the truck traffic. A member was stopped by a police to submit a driver’s liscense. But he refused firmly, “I committed no traffic violation”, and eventually was released 30 minutes later. During the morning, about 40 dump trucks were enclosed within the pier grounds and could not transport earth/sand, which made the police irritable.
427 truckloads of earth/sand were brought in, and 733 truckloads were loaded to 3 cargo ships.
(Motobu Shiokawa Pier)
Including the members of Shimagurumi of Uruma City who came for support, about 30 protestors spread in the grounds of the pier and roamed. Knowing that more protestors come on Mondays, the riot police showed up early. But we stopped the transport operation for about one hour.
Two ships had been already berthed. They may be trying to save time to load as much as possible. They did save 20 minutes, time required for a ship to berth, and dozens more truckloads of earth/sand were loaded.
The operation continued to 5:00 p.m., and 321 truckloads of earth/sand were loaded to 3 cargo ships.
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(1.68%)
| 28（Sat） | 30（Mon） | 31（Tue） | Ari,1（Wed） | 2（Thr） | 3（Fri） | |
| Awa | 0 | 733 | ||||
| Shiokawa | 0 | 321 |
| Number of dump trucks ※ |
Weightt of earth/sand
※① |
Converted to volume
※② |
Volume per Total
※③ |
| 168,119 | 1,008,714ｔ | 504,357㎥ | 2.446% |
