The Ginowan Municipal Assembly decided Friday to send letters to U.S. military forces in Okinawa Prefecture and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi protesting U.S. military training flights, according to council officials.
During an extraordinary session, the assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling on U.S. forces to immediately terminate practice flights over the city's residential areas. The resolution also calls for the early handover of the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.
On Aug. 2, a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter from the air station conducted an emergency landing about 50 meters from private residences in the village of Ginoza.
The resolution criticizes the U.S. for continuing with its training flight drills in the wake of the incident.
It says residents are now constantly worried about their personal safety and property.
In 1996, the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa reached an agreement to relocate the Futenma Air Station.
On July 29, the national government and local authorities in Okinawa Prefecture agreed on a basic relocation plan featuring the construction of a military-civilian airport with a 2,500-meter runway on reclaimed land off Nago, northern Okinawa.