The Japanese government allowed construction of a new U.S. miklitary base on Okinawa Island to proceed. Photo by Sonata/wikimedia.org

NAHA, Japan, March 30 (UPI) -- An order by the governor of Okinawa to halt work on a new U.S. military base was overruled Monday, prompting protests from residents.

About 100 people staged a protest before the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab, adjacent to the proposed new base. They support last week's order by Gov. Takeshi Onaga to stop work on the new base pending an environmental survey.


That order was suspended by Japanese Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The Japanese government is supportive of construction of a base to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is encircled by a densely populated part of the city of Ginowan on the 463-square mile southern Japanese island. Onaga's administration was elected in 2014 on a platform of no new military construction.

Many Okinawa residents object to the U.S. military presence of about 26,000 troops on several bases, as well as suspected belief of offshore environmental damage.

The protesters referred to the Tokyo government's move, revealed in an order to the Okinawan defense bureau Monday, as an "outrageous act that ignores the sentiments of prefectural residents."

A major delay in construction of the new base could strain relations between the United States and Japan.