英字新聞

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 5
EDITORIAL: Stench of corruption lingers over Futenma relocation plan
（社説）辺野古とカネ　移設の陰の不透明さ

An Okinawa construction company that won a public works contract related to the U.S. military base relocation plan in Nago donated 900,000 ($7,310) yen to six candidates in the 2014 Lower House election.
The six all won their single-seat districts in the prefecture. A political donation linked to a national election made by a central government contractor represents an illegal act banned by the Public Offices Election Law.
The company won a contract to build an embankment on Nago’s Henoko district shore, where the government plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan, also in Okinawa Prefecture.
　沖縄・米軍普天間飛行場の辺野古移設工事を受注した建設業者が、昨年の衆院選の前、当選した６人に計９０万円を寄付していたことが分かった。
　国と契約を結ぶ業者からの国政選挙に関する寄付は、公職選挙法で禁じられた違法行為だ。

The Asahi Shimbun has learned that the contractor also made donations to candidates for local government chief elections in the past.
　受注業者は、首長選でも候補者側への寄付を重ねていた。

These dubious campaign donations inevitably raise suspicions. They suggest that the company paid the cash in the hope of building collusive ties with politicians to gain favor with regard to government contracts for the gigantic public works airbase project.
　辺野古移設という巨大な公共事業をめぐり、選挙支援と引き換えに政治家の利権に期待する建設業者――。そんな癒着が疑われても仕方がない構図だ。

Both the politicians and the company should, of course, start behaving with greater integrity.
　政治家も、業者もきちんと襟を正すのは当然のことだ。

This is not the first time that shady cash payments related to the Futenma relocation plan have come to light.
　辺野古移設に関して、不透明なカネのやりとりが明るみに出たのはこれだけではない。

It has also been disclosed that three members of a government panel to study the project’s environmental impact, including the committee chairman, received donations totaling 11 million yen from contractors undertaking the construction work.
　移設工事を環境面から監視する専門家委員会の委員３人が、委員就任決定後に受注業者から計１１００万円の寄付金を受け、

Another committee member received remuneration from a corporation affiliated with one of the contractors.
他の１委員も受注業者の関連法人から報酬を受けていたことも先に明らかになっている。

The central government set up the panel to discuss the project from a scientific viewpoint and inform them about developments in related projects.
　委員会は国が設置。移設事業を科学的に審議し、工事の変更などを国に指導する。

The fact is that the experts tasked to assess the environmental impact of the construction works received cash from the companies that carry out the works.
その任をゆだねられた専門家が、事業を請け負う業者からカネを受けとっていた構図だ。

The government claims the panel has been discussing issues in a fair and neutral manner. But it’s hard to believe the companies that paid the money expected nothing in return.
　政府は「委員会は公平中立な立場で議論が行われている」としているが、カネを出す業者側に何らかの期待がないとは思えない。

Refusing to receive money or other gifts from any interested party is the minimum ethical requirement for members of such a committee.
利害関係者から金品を受けとらないことは、委員の最低限の倫理ではないのか。

There has also been a case of questionable payments with regard to the project by the government itself.
　政府自身が不透明な公金を支出する例もある。

At the end of last month, the administration decided to provide state subsidies to the three districts of Kushi, Henoko and Toyohara in Nago, collectively known as the “Three Kube Districts.”
The three districts, which are located near the site where the new military facilities are being built, will each receive up to 13 million yen in state subsidies for the current fiscal year.
　政府は先月末、名護市の移設先周辺の「久辺（くべ）３区」（久志、辺野古、豊原）に今年度は１区につき最大１３００万円の補助金を出すことを決めた。

The Three Kube Districts, however, are not official administrative units like Tokyo’s 23 wards. They are more like neighborhood associations.
　区といっても東京２３区のような自治体ではなく、町内会のようなものだ。

The decision represents an unusual move by the central government. It will supply the public funds directly, bypassing the authorities of Okinawa Prefecture and Nago, whose chiefs are opposed to the government’s plan to relocate the Futenma air base to Henoko.
移設に反対する県や市の頭越しに、３区だけに公金を出す異例の施策である。

The government seems to have lost sight of administrative decency and fairness in a rush to build the new base.
　辺野古移設を急ぐあまり、行政としての公正さ、公平さを見失ってはいないか。

Actually, there have been a number of cases across the nation in which questionable cash payments related to public works projects have divided communities.
　沖縄に限らず、公共事業をめぐる不透明なカネが地域に分断を生んできた例はこれまでも数多い。

It should be noted that many local construction companies struggling to stay afloat depend on public works projects for survival.
疲弊する地域の建設業者にとって、公共事業が「命綱」である側面もあるだろう。

Even so, politicians and bureaucrats should strictly prohibit themselves from getting involved in any opaque or questionable cash payments. This kind of shady money only deepens distrust among local populations, undermines the arena for honest public debate and causes divisions within communities.
　だとしても、政治家や行政が不透明・不自然なカネのやりとりにかかわることは、住民の不信を広げ、ともに考える土俵を損ね、住民の間に分断を持ち込むだけだ。厳に慎むべきである。

For both advocates and opponents of the Futenma relocation plan, fair and above-board procedures for related decisions and measures must be the minimum precondition for discussions on this issue.
　手続きが公正・公平であることは、基地移設への賛否を超えて、この問題を議論する最低限の前提でなければならない。