The Anti Helicopter-Base Association, a core group member of the anti-base protest movement, took an appeal action against the ODB on 8th. Considering the situation that the number of those infected with COVID-19 has been increasing in Okinawa , they handed a written request to ODB for “immediate discontinuation of the construction to protect health and lives of the workers, the citizens, and the security guards” and “provision of masks to the security guards”. To the group, an ODB staff in charge repeated their usual response that “we intend to facilitate the relocation work to remove the risks caused by the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.”
We see no problems if the construction work of the new military base is discontinued for a few months out of some dozens of years required for completion. However, the central government wishes to impress Okinawan that the construction is proceeding so smoothly that Okinawan would give up protesting. The speculation of the government of Japan is given priority over the lives of the residents. Prime Minister Abe’s favorite phrase, “We will promote the construction with kind explanation to the residents,” has never sounded so hollow. This is another example of taunting and discriminatory response of the Abe Regime to Okinawan.
※Anti Helicopter-Base Association: a core group member of the protest movement formed in 1998 against construction of the new military base in Henoko. Their protest rallies by boats and canoes on the sea has been continued almost for 6,000 days. A photo below shows their tent on the Henoko beach.
(In front of the Camp Schwab Gate)
Since yesterday, the sit-in protestors have started to sit one meter away from each other as a peventive measure against COVID-19. The measure is considered, though only less than 20 citizens participated, to be the best thing we can do. The Okinawa Prefectural government has requested people visiting Okinawa to take self-restraint preventive measures. However, Okinawan locals continue to vist Henoko to protest as long as the construction continues, which poses a high risk of infection. More than 40 citizens joined the sit-in yesterday. The riot police officers avoided the direct contact with the protestors and politely asked the protestors to move, which had lasted for 30 minutes and looked strange.
197 vehicles delivered the material.
(Ryukyu Cement Awa Pier)
Three or four trucks entered to the pier at each traffic light change because the dump trucks came from both right and left directions of the national road by the pier. The speed of delivery is almost twice as faster than before. The protestors requested the police to stop dangerous left turns which pose a risk of involving nearby pedestrians, but the police has never listened. The dump trucks stopped making left turns once; however, we have heard that the head of Okinawa Prefectural Police commanded the on-site police officers to ignore the citizens’ appeal and enforce the dangerous turns.
20 protestors continued the rally to the dump truck drivers who came one after another. 865 vehicles delivered the material, and 965 truckloads of soil/sand were loaded to five carrier ships.
On the sea, the members of 11 canoes and one rubber boat made a protest by sticking alongside the carrier ships which were leaving the pier.
(Motobu Shiokawa Pier)
A self propelling grab hopper barge came alongside the pier after a long time of absence. Because the use of a self propelling grab hopper barge is specified in the monthly permit for the use of the pier, it has to be used at least once a month for the permit to be renewed. In order to use the barge, very inefficient work was conducted: earth/sand had to be unloaded from the dump trucks then loaded by a self propelling grab hopper to the barge. It took a whole day to load 135 truckloads of earth/sand, only 1/3 of the usual amount of loading per day.
Number of dump trucks to date and percentage against the total
In order to estimate the volume of earth/sand used in landfill work, we had assumed one truckload was 6 tons. However, following advice given by media and civil engineering experts, we changed the assumption to 5 tons per truckload. Consequently, the estimated amount of earth/sand dumped is changed greatly. The estimation calculated on the basis of the number of ruckloads serves only as a reference.
Number of dump trucks which made delivery from December 2018 to the end of December 2019 114,601(1.39%)
| 4（Sat） | 6（Mon） | 7（Tue） | 8（Wed） | 9（Thr） | 10（Fri） | |
| Awa | 0 | 0 | 850 | 932 | 608 | 905 |
| Shiokawa | 0 | 319 | 356 | 399 | 318 | 135 |
| Number of dump trucks ※ |
Weightt of earth/sand
※① |
Converted to volume
※② |
Volume per Total
※③ |
| 177,213 | 886,065ｔ | 443,033㎥ | 2.149% |
