The signing ceremony (Source: qdnd.vn)The Norwegian People’s Aid (NPC) will provide technical and financial support for the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) to implement a project on building technical survey process in service of bomb and mine clearance.
A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed in Hanoi on September 17, under which the NPC will help the Vietnamese centre conduct technical survey process on the scene on a trial basis before introducing them to other bomb and mine projects.
With the NPC support, the VNMAC will carry out measures to ensure safety for people, equipment and all activities within the framework of the project while organising training courses for the project stakeholders.
Apart from technical consultations and field trips, the Norwegian side will assist Vietnam in organising conferences reviewing how the project to be carried out.
Tran Hong Minh, VNMAC General Director, said the project aims to mobilise foreign resources in minimising risks caused by bombs, mines and explosives left from wartime, and raise public awareness of the issue.
The project will be implemented in Hanoi and piloted in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue . It will be rolled out on a larger scale after the NPA is licensed to operate in Vietnam .
The project will run through December 31, 2016.
More than 800,000 tonnes of unexploded bombs and mines left from wartime are buried in 21 percent of the country, mainly in the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngai.
Wartime bombs and mines have killed about 42,130 and injured another 62,160, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.-VNA
