Third Futenma noise lawsuit plaintiffs total 5,846 with 508 newcomers to file additional actions
Futenma Air Station
January 21, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo
By Takaya Kinra
On January 20 in a press conference held online, it was announced that 508 people (from 165 households) will be filing additional actions with the Okinawa branch of the Naha District Court on January 25 as part of the third Kadena noise lawsuit, in which a substantial ban on flights of U.S. military aircraft taking off from and landing at Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City as well as damages for harm incurred by the aircraft noise are requested. Now, with the addition of these 508 people, the number of plaintiffs has reached its highest number yet at a total of 5,846 people (from 2,110 households) since the lawsuit started in December 2020.
Successive inquiries from local residents concerning foreign aircraft flying into Futenma Air Station and other such concerns resulted in a round of additional actions as part of the third Kadena Noise lawsuit. Said round of actions stretched into March 2021 and has since been concluded.
Plaintiffs in the third Kadena noise lawsuit range from children who are not yet one year old to people in their 90s. Looking at the age categories of the plaintiffs, the largest category are people in their 40s (considered to be the child-rearing generation) accounting for 813 people (13.89 percent of the total), while plaintiffs in their 50s account for 735 people (12.55 percent), and so on. New participants from the Ogido region of Kitanakagusuku Village have joined the lawsuit for the newly announced round of additional actions.
The leader of the plaintiffs’ team of lawyers, Seiryo Arakaki, touched on the successive incidents of objects falling from U.S. military aircraft and said, “No matter what it takes, we want to effect a ban on flights and bring about the closure [of Futenma Air Station] as soon as possible.”
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
Previous Article:Mozuku harvest begins in Miyakojima, yielding “thick, high quality seaweed, a prime result”
Next Article:Editorial: Toguchi reelection does not represent public approval of new base construction
[Similar Articles]
- One in two Kadena residents are plaintiffs in the fourth Kadena noise lawsuit
- Number of plaintiffs in fourth Kadena noise lawsuit exceeds 30,000
- Lawsuit against Kadena Base
- Editorial: Salvaging of citizens’ rights to be addressed, at last, in fourth Kadena noise lawsuit
- Takeoffs/landings at Futenma Air Station in 2020 reaches record high of 17,500 for the year
Webcam(Kokusai Street)
