The governor of the Japanese island of Okinawa has ordered work suspended at the planned home of a new United States military base. Governor Takeshi Onaga said a concrete block thrown into the sea for testing had damaged a coral reef.

In Tokyo, Japans chief cabinet secretary told reporters that the work on the base cannot be suspended because officials in Okinawa already agreed to it.

Japan and the United States want to move the Futenma air base from a heavily populated area to the coast because of problems with noise, pollution and high crime.