Japan offers $336 million for U.S. Marines' Guam transfer in FY 2009+

TOKYO, July 11 Kyodo -
Japan agreed Saturday with the United States to offer $336 million in total for
the current fiscal year to realize the planned transfer of U.S. Marines from
Okinawa to Guam by 2014, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and James Zumwalt, charge
d'affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, exchanged notes on the
funding, given that an accord committing the two countries to following through
on the transfer took effect May 19.
The accord gives a legal basis to the 2006 Japan-U.S. agreement on the
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, commonly referred to as the ''road map,''
which Tokyo and Washington say is meant to reduce the burden on communities
near U.S. bases.
It legally requires Tokyo to spend up to $2.8 billion on infrastructure
projects on the U.S. territory in the Pacific.
The $336 million, or about 34.6 billion yen, will be used for infrastructure
projects in the Finegayan area and Apra Harbor on Guam, the ministry said.
==Kyodo
2009-07-11 19:38:27