At the second working group meeting held in light of the court-mediated settlement on the Henoko relocation issue on July 14, the government asked Okinawa to allow the resumption of on-shore construction work inside Camp Schwab, on the grounds that this is not covered by the court settlement. This includes the dismantling and relocation of barracks. The prefectural government intends to verify if the work to be resumed is unrelated to the Henoko landfill.

Even if the construction work is outside the construction area of the new military base, the transfer of structures to this area is also involved. The question is whether the request to resume construction work involves work related to Henoko relocation.

The court settlement in March called for “immediate suspension of reclamation work.” According to the Defense Ministry, construction work on Camp Schwab has been on hold after the settlement. At the meeting on July 14, it stressed that the dismantling and relocation of barracks and other “realignment projects” are not covered by the suspension called for in the settlement, so work needs to resume.

In response to this request, the Okinawa government demanded that the national government submit documents showing that the construction work is unrelated to the reclamation at the working group meeting. It will determine whether this is indeed not covered by the court settlement based on the documents.