Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has suggested that unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos be cleared using a land release survey method to speed up clearance work.
To support the government in fulfilling its obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the NPA has carried out trials of different methods to survey and map cluster bomb contaminant, according to a report from the NPA.
The NPA has also indentified land that is suspected of being contaminated with UXO but can actually be released to the community and put to productive use, NPA Operations Manager Mr Tony Fish reported to a meeting on UXO clearance activities under a NPA project held in Vientiane yesterday.
Trials of the land release survey method have already been carried out in Saravan and Xekong provinces, but not yet in Attapeu province because NPA’s Attapeu teams are currently undergoing training on land release survey procedures, he said.
The trials proved successful and the results were presented to an international audience at the 1st Meeting of States Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane in November last year.
“NPA survey teams from Cambodia and Vietnam have visited our field operations in Laos to study the procedures and apply them in those countries,” said Mr Fish.
“After successful trials, we know the location of UXO in each village and district and then provide information to villagers on affected areas and work with village authorities to plan future clearance activities.”
The information is also useful for other development organisations wishing to know where UXO-affected areas are and which areas need to be cleared before a project can begin.
NPA carries out clearance in villages allocated to it by UXO Laos, Mr Fish said.
“Before any clearance can be carried out, our survey teams visit the villages that are under NPA’s responsibility and speak to the villagers to find out what clearance is required,” he explained.
A survey report is then made, which includes a map of the area that the land owners need to be cleared.
“During this process we have found that many of these areas have low contamination, while many times the villages have no contamination at all,” he said.
“To avoid this in the future, we will change the way surveys are carried out and combine general surveys with land release surveys.”
“This way, we will know which areas that we have received clearance requests for actually have cluster munitions contamination.”
From July 2009 to July 2011, NPA clearance teams surveyed more than 6 million square metres and about 1.4 million of those were cleared, with around 2,200 UXO items found.
Mr Fish said that next year the NPA clearance teams should be able to survey and clear double the land area they cleared in the past year as they have more experience.
NPA began UXO survey and clearance work with two teams in Saravan, Xekong and Attapeu provinces in 2009, before expanding that to three teams in each province in 2010.
NPA implements activities in these provinces as they are areas where UXO has high impacts on local communities and working in the three neighbouring provinces allows NPA to be flexible and cost-effective in moving personnel, vehicles and equipment depending on operational and training requirements.
The meeting was also attended by National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector in Laos Director Mr Phoukhieo Chanhthasomboune and Norwegian People’s Aid Country Director Mr Atle Karlsen.
Source: Vientiane Times
By Khamphone Syvongxay
(Latest Update August 31, 2011)
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