7 Aug 2003

Palau to push for a US military base to be sited there

5:05 pm on 7 August 2003

The Palau Senate wants the United States government to open a military base in the country if it closes its unpopular base in Okinawa.

The U.S. Government has, under its Compact of Free Association, rights to thousands of hectares on the big island of Babeldaob, but has yet to exercise those rights.

The Senate says it wants to encourage the U.S. to consider Palau if it closes Okinawa.

Senator Harry Fritz, who introduced the resolution, says the US military spends hundreds of millions of dollars in Guam to support its bases there.

But opponents of the proposal say the base would alter the face of Palau, bringing possibly more than 35 thousand military personnel to a country with an indigenous population of only 15 thousand.

And they say the base would gobble up limited land and could have unwanted impacts on Palau's environment.