August 27, 2015
The Kanagawa prefectural city of Sagamihara and the U.S. military in Japan will jointly investigate the latest incident where a U.S. military depot in the city caught fire following multiple explosions, a city official on August 26 mentioned.
The official sadi this in a presentation which the Japanese Communist Party Sagamihara City Assembly members’ group, the Sagamihara City Peace Committee, and eight other local groups made to the city government. The official stated that U.S. experts on explosives and the city’s fire department officials will work together to determine the cause of the incident.
Suganuma Mikio of the peace committee said, “This is the first case where a Japanese municipality joins with the U.S. military in investigating a U.S. accident despite the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). I hope this will set a precedent for all Japanese municipalities hosting U.S. bases.”
Matsunaga Chikako, JCP assemblymembers’ group head, stressed the need to obtain information about the location of the storage of hazardous materials.
On the same day, the JCP Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly members’ group made representations to Governor Kuroiwa Yuji and demanded that the governor urge the Japanese and U.S. governments to look into the cause of the explosions and to revise the SOFA.
Past related article:
> Fire occurs at US base in Kanagawa’s residential area [ August 25, 2015]
The official sadi this in a presentation which the Japanese Communist Party Sagamihara City Assembly members’ group, the Sagamihara City Peace Committee, and eight other local groups made to the city government. The official stated that U.S. experts on explosives and the city’s fire department officials will work together to determine the cause of the incident.
Suganuma Mikio of the peace committee said, “This is the first case where a Japanese municipality joins with the U.S. military in investigating a U.S. accident despite the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). I hope this will set a precedent for all Japanese municipalities hosting U.S. bases.”
Matsunaga Chikako, JCP assemblymembers’ group head, stressed the need to obtain information about the location of the storage of hazardous materials.
On the same day, the JCP Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly members’ group made representations to Governor Kuroiwa Yuji and demanded that the governor urge the Japanese and U.S. governments to look into the cause of the explosions and to revise the SOFA.
Past related article:
> Fire occurs at US base in Kanagawa’s residential area [ August 25, 2015]
