Japan's Okinawa gov't orders halt to U.S. base relocation work

The Okinawa prefectural government on Monday ordered the suspension of underwater work in a coastal area in Nago city in the Japan's southernmost island prefecture for a relocation site for the U.S. Futenma airbase, according to local report.

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told reporters that if the Okinawa Defense Bureau did not follow the order, the Okinawa government would revoke in a week its permit granted to the bureau for rock drilling at the site.

The order came after the prefectural government found last month that the defense bureau's drilling survey has damaged coral reefs in the Henoko area by one of their big concrete blocks, said the Kyodo News.

However, prior to the released of the order, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference that the central government "is going to pursue construction work without delay."

The Okinawa and the central government are at odds over the relocation plan of the U.S. Futenma airbase, while Japan and the United States, despite strong opposition from the local residents, insist on pushing forward their plan to move the base within the prefecture.

Onaga, an opponent of the U.S. Futenma airbase relocation plan, became the governor of the island prefecture last year by a landslide victory and vowed to block the relocation plan by using his power.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has supported the relocation plan, reiterating the Japan-U.S. defense relations were the foundation of the country's foreign policies.

However, local reports cited analysts that the central government is unlikely to follow the prefectural order to suspend the work.