The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly has endorsed a resolution urging the US military to suspend flights over Japan’s schools and hospitals, local media reported Thursday.
The resolution was passed after last week’s incident, when a 10-year-old boy suffered a minor injury after a US helicopter window fell onto a local school, NHK World reported.
The resolution calls for suspending flights due to the frequency of incidents, a lack of working safety measures implemented by the US military, and locals’ distrust in US forces.
The assembly stated that the resolution would be sent to the Japanese government and the US military in Japan.
The US military presence in Okinawa, a tiny island prefecture in the south of the Japanese archipelago which hosts the vast majority of US troops stationed in the country, has been a source of repeated controversy in the Asian country. Local residents regularly protest the US presence over different incidents involving US personnel.