A Japanese court has ordered the country's government to pay the residents of Kadena a total of about 16.3 million US dollars in compensation for the noise of planes flying from the US Air Force base of the same name, reports the Pentagon's Stars and Stripes newspaper, citing court documents.
The court ruled that the noise pollution caused by the American planes disrupts the daily life of the city's residents and causes them "psychological damage: fear, sleep disturbances and anxiety about the possibility of plane crashes."
Residents will receive compensation for damage done between early 2019 and mid-2025. The amount of payment will depend on the resident's distance from the air base and how long they have lived there. Meanwhile, the court rejected the request of the plaintiffs to limit the activities of the US Air Force at the base, as it does not have the same authority as the Japanese government.
The representative of the court stated in a conversation with journalists that the exact number of people who will receive compensation is not known, because some of the more than 5,000 plaintiffs could withdraw their claims or did not have time to wait for the final decision.
