VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam needs over US$10 billion to clear the huge volume of landmines
and unexploded ordnances that pollute more than 20 percent of the country’s
area, said Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan.
>> Little known photos of explosive clearance
>> Little known photos of explosive clearance
“To
clean bombs and mines left by the war, Vietnam needs $10 billion and over 100
years, plus billions of USD for resettlement and social welfares in areas that
are polluted with bombs and mines,” Mr. said at a meeting on April 2 in Hanoi
to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
(April 4). The event drew the participation of many international guests,
diplomats and victims of landmines.
The
Deputy PM stressed that seeking funding from various sources to speed up
landmine and unexploded ordnance clearance--in order to basically deal with the
consequences of bombs and mines is the mission of the Vietnamese government and
the concern of over 80 million Vietnamese people.
He said
that landmines and unexploded ordinances seriously affect Vietnam’s development
and threaten the lives of Vietnamese people. Vietnam spends millions of USD on
clearing bombs and mines and help victims annually.
After
the war, over 40,000 people, including 30,000 children, were reported killed
and 60,000 other injured because of landmines and unexploded ordinances.
“The Vietnamese government will mobilize all
resources to deal with the war consequences but Vietnam also needs the
assistance of other countries, especially the US, to accelerate this task,” Mr.
Nhan said.
Mr.
Nguyen Thien, Vice Chair of the central province of Ha Tinh, one of the six
provinces with the highest density of bombs and mines, said that local
residents could see landmines everywhere, when they did farm work, built houses
or even when they caught mussels.
Mr. Ho
Van Lu, from the central province of Huong Hoa, said that he eye witnessed two
accidents caused by unexploded ordinances, which killed several kids.
At the
meeting, 34 local organizations donated VND7.5 billion ($330,000) and nine
international organizations with $15 million to the national action program to
deal with post-war consequences of bombs and mines.
In
April 2010, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved this program for 2010-2025,
which aims to raise domestic and international resources to gradually diminish
and completely deal with the consequences of bombs and mines.
Around
6.6 million hectares of land in Vietnam (over 21 percent of the country’s total
area) are polluted by 800,000 tons of UXO, except for tons of UXO in the sea.
During
1975-2000, UXO killed more than 4,000 people and turned over 60,000 others into
invalids, mainly working-age people and many children.
Annually,
Vietnam spends $100 million to clear UXO, not including expenditures in
clearing mines for construction.
However,
at the current funding and speed, Vietnam will need up to 300 years to clear
the entire area. The country aims to fulfill this mission in less than 100
years.
In the
next five years, UXO clearance will focus on six central provinces: Nghe An, Ha
Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai, where
have the highest density of UXO in Vietnam.
A map
on UXO in Vietnam will be drawn before 2015.
Phuong
Lan
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