The government has underlined the need to accelerate unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance to facilitate national development and poverty reduction, and free Laos from its least developed country status by 2020.
Speaking at a meeting in Vientiane yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Lieutenant General Duangchay Phichit said UXO clearance is an important aspect of poverty reduction.
“UXO clearance in Laos still does not respond to the needs of our country. We plan to alleviate poverty by 2020 but if UXO clearance does not speed up, it will hinder our efforts to reach our development goals,” he said.
“We have to speed up clearance activities so people can earn a living and live without the risk posed by unexploded bombs.”
Lt Gen Duangchay spoke about the danger UXO presented, particularly cluster munitions, or bombies, which kill and maim numerous people every year while they work the land in their farms and villages.
“We still don’t know when we will be able to clear the bombs from our country. We may take 100 years or more to clear all the bombs so our people can alleviate their poverty.”
Between 1964 and 1973, more than 2 million tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos by American warplanes, making the country the most heavily bombed per capita in history.
Around 25 percent of Laos’s villages were bombed, but the capacity of Laos to clear these munitions remains limited due to lack of funding and effective clearance methods, according to government officials.
According to a survey conducted from 1996-96, UXO was reported on over 87,000 sq km of the country’s terrain, or almost 900,000 hectares. Of the total UXO contaminated area, 200,000ha is agricultural land, disrupting farmers’ productivity in 14 provinces.
Over the past 10 years, 25,000ha of UXO contaminated areas have been cleared, of which 17,000ha is agricultural land.
Lt Gen Duangchay urged officials at yesterday’s meeting to discuss detailed plans to boost human resources, funding and equipment for UXO clearance activities.
The meeting also reviewed past achievements and discussed plans for 2011.
Lt Gen Duangchay called for further discussion on ways to address shortcomings related to UXO clearance over the past year.
“UXO is usually found in remote areas where poor people live and struggle to earn a livelihood,” he observed.
Laos hosted the First Meeting of States Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions last year to request international cooperation to clear the catastrophic level of UXO still buried in its soil, and seek an end to the use of the barbaric weapons.
Source: Vientiane Times
By Somsack Pongkhao
January 27, 2011
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