Staff from NPA/RENEW project work in Gio My commune, Gio linh district, central province of Quang Tri. (Photo: VNA)Quang Tri (VNA) – The central province of Quang Trihas the highest rate of mine and bomb pollution in Vietnam with 81% of the province’s total land area littered with dangerous ordnance of this kind.
Since 1975, bombs and mines remaining after the war in theprovince have left more than 3,430 people dead and 5,100 injured, and about 31%of the victims are children, according to Quang Tri Mine Action Centre.
The province began cooperating with internationalorganisations to carry out mine and bomb clearance activities in 1995.
As of this month, 34 non-Governmental organisations and 23international organisations support the province in overcoming the consequencesof unexploded ordnance. The US Government alone has supported the province throughNGOs with more than 91 million USD in funds.
Soldiers carry deactivated bombs to storage area in Binh Son district. (Photo: VNA)In 1995, Peace Trees Vietnam, a US non-governmental organisation, became the first of such NGOs to be licensed in deploying bomb and mine clearance activities inthe province. With a budget of 10.5 million USD, the organisation began a project on detectingand handling mines and other explosives to reduce hazards and support thesocio-economic development plan of Quang Tri province in the period of2021-2025.
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has been carrying the “Restoringthe Environment and Neutralizing the Effects of the War – RENEW” project withfunding of 13 million USD.
Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, NPA Manager in Quang Tri province, saidthat from 2001, NPA/RENEW Project has achieved many positiveresults when zoning 600 million m2 of confirmed bomb/mine contaminated areas;clearing bomb/mine on 22million sq.m and disposing of 123,400 other explosives during its operation.
Resources from NGOs and international organisations havehelped Quang Tri province achieve many positive results in tackling theconsequences of bombs and mines.
Between 1975 and 1995, on average, about 100 people died ofbomb and mines accidents each year in the province. Between 2005 and 2015, the average number of bomb/minevictims decreased to 10 people per year.
From the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2021, the provincehad no accident caused by bombs and mines. Early last year, two bomb/mine accidentshappened in the province, killing one person and injuring another.
The province has cleared over 779,000 bombs and mines of allkinds and cleaned 26,660 hectares of land contaminated with heavy bombs andmines. Nearly 1,000 technical staff are well-trained according to internationalstandards on bomb and mine clearance, and well equipped.
Quang Tri is the first province in the country to introducebomb and mine accident prevention education into schools right from primaryschool and then to junior high school. About 630,000 people have accessed education programmes on the risks of unexploded ordnance.
Director of the province’s External Affairs Department NguyenTrieu Thuong said that the province expects to mobilise over 150 million USDto tackle the consequences of bombs and mines.
Quang Tri aims to become the first province in the country nolonger affected by mines and explosives by 2025, she said, adding that the goaldoes not mean all ordnance will be cleared. But completionof surveys, mapping areas contaminated with bombs and mines for monitoringand management, clearly detecting and solving pollution problems is the goal./.
