TOKYO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Prefectural officials in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa are gearing up to take fresh legal action against the central government in an effort to block relocating a controversial U.S. military base within the prefecture, local media said Tuesday.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK said that while work is already underway in the coastal Henoko area in Nago, Okinawa, to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station and move it from a densely populated area, Okinawa officials may look to block the issuance of a permit needed by the central government to proceed with the work.
The Okinawa prefectural government has indicated it may ask the prefectural assembly's approval to file a lawsuit seeking the central government's immediate cessation of the work.
Local media also reported Tuesday that Okinawa government officials also plan to seek a court injunction ordering the construction work remain suspended until the court has ruled on the situation.
The injunction may be filed for even before the court hands down its ruling, local media also said.
Under the central government's plans to relocate the Futenma facility, the government is planning to reclaim around 157 hectares of land in waters off the Henoko area and construct a V-shaped runway.
In late April, the Okinawan chapter of Japan's Defense Ministry started constructing seawalls to surround an area adjacent to the Marines' Camp Schwab in Henoko on the island for the controversial relocation of the U.S. military base amid uproar from local citizens.
The construction work has drawn staunch criticism from local residents as well as officials in Okinawa, and protests to the reclamation work have been frequent.
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga is a staunch opponent to the base's relocation and has been fighting doggedly to see the plan scrapped.
In February, Onaga visited the United States in person to convey his message of resistance to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The central government, however, has maintained its stance that the relocation plan remains the only way forward in line with a pact made with the United States in 1996 under its broader security alliance.
The protracted contentions have seen anti-U.S. base sentiment rise in Japan's southernmost prefecture.
The islanders feel they have been "used" by the central government before, during and after World War II to host 74 percent of all U.S. facilities in Japan.
