Japanese premier challenges U.S. heliport opponents
     TOKYO - Feb 16, 1998 01:24 a.m. EST - Japanese Prime Minister
 Ryutaro Hashimoto on Monday challenged recalcitrant Okinawa residents
 who oppose construction of a U.S. offshore heliport, saying he would
 not let the issue go.
     Tokyo is eager to build the facility in the city of Nago on
 Okinawa despite a referendum in which a majority of local voters
 opposed the construction.
     Hashimoto referred to the standoff between the government in
 Tokyo and residents of Okinawa in a speech to the lower house of
 parliament.
     "We will persistently press for the local people's understanding
 and cooperation with the heliport construction," he said.
     At issue is the removal of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station at
 Futenma, also in Okinawa, in exchange for construction of the
 heliport in Nago.
     Okinawa hosts the majority of U.S. troops based in Japan, and
 more than 20 percent of the island prefecture is taken up by
 American bases.
    The campaign among Okinawans for the removal of all of the 27,000
 U.S. troops from the prefecture gained momentum after a 12-year-old
 local girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen in 1995.
     Tokyo has pushed for the new heliport, which would mean at least
 $1 billion in contracts for a key constituency of the ruling Liberal
 Democratic Party, the big construction companies.
     Hashimoto played to local sentiments in his speech, saying the
 Futenma base, located in an urban neighbourhood, posed a danger to
 residents.
     "We can't ignore this dangerous situation, and so I proposed the
 construction of an (offshore) heliport as the best way to replace
 the Futenma facility," Hashimoto said.
     "I still believe that."
     Residents of the town of Nago voted against the heliport plan in
 a non-binding referendum last December, and Okinawa Governor
 Masahide Ota recently seconded their opposition.
     Tokyo reacted angrily to Ota's dissent, threatening to pull the
 plug on sorely needed economic assistance that had been provisionally
 offered to Okinawa, the poorest of Japan's 47 prefectures.
     In his speech, Hashimoto dangled the prospect of preferential
 treatment for Okinawa if cooperation with the project was
 forthcoming.
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