NAHA -- About 15.5 billion yen had to be spent by the Japanese government to remove contaminated soil and other waste, in connection with facilities and areas returned to Japan that were formerly used by U.S. forces in Okinawa Prefecture, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned from the Defense Ministry's Okinawa Defense Bureau.
In Okinawa, which will mark the 50th anniversary of its reversion to Japan in May, effective use of the returned areas is necessary for the prefecture to realize a self-reliant economy. Yet, there has been a succession of such cases in which waste matter and waste products were unearthed after the land was returned, causing delays in developing the land.
