TOKYO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- A referendum on the central government's controversial plans to relocate a U.S. airbase within Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa will be held across the entire southern prefecture later this month, Okinawa authorities said Friday.
The vote on the contentious relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the crowded residential area of Ginowan to the coastal, less populated region of Henoko, also in Okinawa, will now cover all eligible voters in the prefecture, as three cities that were opposed to the vote have reversed their decision.
Owing to the prefectural assembly on Tuesday passing a bill to expand the referendum's voting conditions from a simple "yes" or "no" vote on the base's relocation to include a third "neither" option, the city mayors who had been opposed to the referendum on the grounds that the format would not cater to all residents' opinions, consented to go ahead with the vote.
A prior sticking point for some of the city's majors had also been the budget associated with holding the referendum, which in some cases had been previously rejected by local assemblies.
"Our city will cooperate with the prefecture to hold the referendum," Ishigaki Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama was quoted as telling local media.
His remarks came after the city's assembly on Friday adopted the budget for the voting to go ahead.
Ginowan Mayor Masanori Matsugawa, meanwhile, told a press briefing on the matter that his city will now go ahead with the vote, as the addition of a third option for voters in the referendum was a proviso that was highly valued by his city.
The referendum, to be held on Feb. 24, while not being legally binding, will, as Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki hopes, show the true extent to which the people of Okinawa are staunchly opposed to the central government's plans to relocate the air base.
All eligible voters now being able to take part in the referendum is a boon to Tamaki who, since winning the gubernatorial election last September on an anti-U.S. base platform, has been embroiled in legal wrangling with the central government over its plans to relocate the base.
On Thursday, Tamaki demanded the immediate suspension of land reclamation work being carried out by the central government in Henoko, Nago City.
Tamaki's demands were based on a permit for landfill work in the area being cancelled due to the existence of soft ground. Citing the need for the government to solidify the ground for the landfill work to continue, Tamaki has insisted the central government halt its work.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conceded in a Lower House committee meeting that soft ground in an area earmarked for reclamation work had been found and said that the area would require improvement work.
For the improvement work to be carried out, the central government must legally apply to the prefectural government to request a change to the original plan, a move Tamaki has said will be difficult for the prefecture to accept.
Okinawa hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, yet the tiny sub-tropical island accounts for just a small fraction of Japan's total landmass.
As well as shouldering the majority of U.S. bases and being victims of U.S. base-linked workers' criminal activities, which span rape and murder, to driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as a steady flow of accidents and mishaps involving U.S. military aircraft, the new location for the base has an extremely delicate ecosystem unique to Okinawa that the locals desperately want to protect.
Tamaki had previously said that the central government's persistent push to continue with the landfill work is completely unacceptable and against the will of Okinawans who wish to see the base moved outside of Okinawa and Japan altogether, as anti-U.S. sentiment continues to rise on the island. Enditem
