Jul 31 (Fri) : Survey of Okinawa Defense Bureau: Is a dugong calling offshore in Henoko ?/A big L-shaped structure appears at the landfill site.

Is a dugong still staying at Oura Bay? This hope is prompted by the result of the survey by the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB).

A survey on inhabitation of dugongs, conducted by ODB offshore in Henoko in April to June, detected the sounds that seem to be dugong’s calling. The same sounds were observed for forth month straight, starting from February. According to “the Environmental Monitoring Committee” which conducted a survey, all sounds were observed at a point of K-4, totaling 74 times for seven days and 70 times for ten days in April and May, respectively. Except for the sounds, no images of dugongs nor evidence of their eating of seaweed have been recognized. The committee said that there was a possibility of an articraft to sound, affected by wind, because the sounds were observed when a wind blew.

Hideki Yoshikawa, director of the Save the Dugong Campaign Center, says that ODB got paid back for not conducting a noise survey for the construction, indicating that the sounds should be disclosed so that international experts can verify the fact.

（In front of Camp Schwab Gate）

It was announced that 71 people were additionally infected in Okinawa, and Denny Tamaki, Governor of Okinawa, officially declared a state of emergency. He has put a voluntary ban on unnecessary outings and asked restaulants to reduce their operating hours.

Construction of a new military base is still being continued even under such a situation. 20 or more citizens gathered and made a protest to the drivers of dump trucks delivering the material and the ones of concrete mixer trucks. According to the information from a protest boat that is monitoring the landfill site, a big L-shaped structure is being built for heightening the seawall more at a landfill area on side of Henoko. For the material delivered to the gate, cobbles (stones about 20 cm in diameter) get increased for the above structure.

Yellow flowers are shining in front of the main gate. Okinawa is in the height of summer now. 212 vehicles delivered the material.

（In front of Ryukyu Cement Pier at Awa）

20 members of a civil group and Okinawa Citizens’ Peace Association divided into two places, the entrance and exit of the pier, and continued the protest, walking in front of dump trucks etc.

They continued the protest, taking water in a shaded area every 30 minutes, up to near 16:00. Since soil/sand, placed at a temporary site in the pier, had been already loaded, dump trucks incessantly entered to the pier, delivering soil/sand from the quarry. The delivery continued up to near 20:00, and soil/sand for 809 dump trucks were loaded to three carriers.

（Shiokawa Port at Motobu-cho）

Loading simultaneously to two carriers has become routine work. Only a few citizens stood for protest, taking a rest sometimes. They are confronting 80 private security guards. Five guards should be enough for security. From any point of view, this is excessively guarded, meaning waste of tax money. Soil/sand for 458 vehicles were loaded to four carriers.