(JP)Plan for Chichijima airport withdrawn

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011114a2.htm

 

Plan for Chichijima airport withdrawn

Environmental risks for Ogasawara isle are too great,

Tokyo report says

 

Tokyo officials said Tuesday they are withdrawing a

plan to construct an airport on Chichijima Island in

the Ogasawara Island chain, about 1,000 km south of

Tokyo.

 

The decision was based on a metropolitan government

panel report received in October. The report found

that construction of an airport would still be

detrimental to the natural environment of the planned

site at Mount Shigure, even if conservation steps are

taken.

 

It makes particular note of the absence of viable

sites to which rare azaleas, found only in the

subtropical Ogasawara chain, could be transplanted.

 

The metropolitan government will study several

alternative plans for linking the remote island chain

to central Tokyo, including examining other candidate

sites for an airport and a rapid sea transportation

link, the officials said.

 

The government had originally planned to build an

airport on the uninhabited Anijima Island, just north

of Chichijima.

 

However, the idea was scrapped due to objections from

the former Environment Agency, now the Environment

Ministry. The agency said building an airport on

Anijima would irreparably damage the island's

ecosystem of precious flora and fauna. The site was

changed to Chichijima in 1998.

 

Island residents are keen to have an airport built in

the region, as it takes more than a day to reach Tokyo

by ship, and traveling by sea is currently the only

means of transportation for islanders and tourists.

 

However, many people, including some islanders, have

voiced concerns over plans for an airport for fear its

construction would damage the natural environment.

 

Due to their geographic isolation, the islands of

Ogasawara teem with rare creatures and plants, and are

often referred to as the " oriental Galapagos Islands. "

 

The Japan Times: Nov. 14, 2001

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