Village people across Laos are being injured and killed after accidently detonating unexploded ordnance (UXO) when they unwittingly strike one of these buried remnants of war.
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UXo accident victim Mr Bounliep points to his injuries, | UXo remnants yet to be destroyed by UXo Lao. | A device is detonated by the UXo Lao team. |
On June 29, 2009 Mr Bounliep, a 45 year old farmer from Kaengluang village in Phalanxay district, Savannakhet province, narrowly escaped death as he dug a termite mound out of his rice field.
As he dug, he struck a device that exploded, leaving the man badly injured with deep flesh wounds caused by shrapnel. He was very lucky to have survived the explosion and to have kept all his limbs.
According to the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao), the explosion was caused by a projectile bomb. Had the accident resulted from cluster munitions or another more dynamic bomb formation Mr Bounliep would surely have lost a limb or quite possibly his life.
UXO Lao works to reduce the number of UXO related deaths and injuries around the country. The team also clears arable land so farmers can grow more crops.
“My rice field was about one hectare in size and there was a termite mound in the middle of it,” Mr Bounliep told Vientiane Times . “I decided to dig it out because it was getting bigger and took up space where I wanted to plant rice.”
Describing his experience, he said he had carried his hoe and shovel into the field in the early morning. He had only been digging for five minutes when the explosion occurred.
When people living nearby heard the explosion, they immediately rushed to the farmer's side and took him to the district hospital as quickly as possible.
The injuries sustained by Mr Bounliep have left him severely disabled. He complains that he cannot help his family like he used to because of his feeble condition. “When I try to walk more than two or three steps at a time, I feel dizzy and fall to the ground,” he said sadly.
“I have lost the sight of my right eye which means I can't work like I used to.”
The frustration is evident in Mr Bounliep's voice and he resents the fact that he is now a burden on his family.
According to the National Regulatory Authority UXO/Mine Action Sector in Laos, about 300 people have been injured or killed in accidental UXO detonations every year since 1975, the year when Laos finally achieved liberation from foreign domination.
Often, the bombs explode as farmers clear land before planting rice. UXO has become a daily hazard in the lives of people in rural farming communities.
Laos is one of the countries worst affected by UXO. About 270 million cluster munition packages were dropped on Laos by the Americans during the Indochina War. Of these, 80 million failed to explode and pose a continuing threat to communities.
Between 1964 and 1973, more than 2 million tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos by US warplanes. The country is the most heavily bombed region per capita in history after 25 percent of its villages were bombed. UXO contaminated a total surface area of 87,231 sq km.
The US government has given US$9 million to UXO Lao between 1996 and 2009 via organised clearance programmes.
More than 17,000 hectares of agricultural and other land has been cleared by UXO Lao since it was established in 1996. Luang Prabang, Huaphan, Xieng Khuang, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Saravan, Xekong, Champassak and Attapeu provinces have all benefited from clearance activities.
A UNDP report published in 2008 stated that the UXO sector was running at a capacity level that would see priority agricultural land cleared within 16 years. By scaling up resources, the mission could be achieved in 10 years, allowing agriculture to develop at a faster rate.
UXO clearance in Laos is a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and removing Laos from the UN list of least developed countries by 2020.
By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
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