Laos aiming to speed up UXO clearance

The National Regulatory Authority (NRA) and Lao National Unexploded Programme (UXO Lao) held an annual project review and UXO Trust Fund steering committee meeting in Vientiane yesterday to discuss ways of speeding up UXO clearance.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Alounkeo Kittikhoun said it is currently possible to clear about four or five thousand hectares of land per year, destroying more than 62,000 unexploded bombs in the process.


“If our clearance capacity reached 5,000 ha per year, we would be able to clear around 50,000 ha in 10 years, but really we need to find ways of finishing upwards of 200,000 hectares over this period,” he said.

“We have invited all staff from the NRA, UXO Lao and donors to this meeting to see if we can identify new ways to speed up UXO clearance in Laos,” Mr Alounkeo said.

He added that if no breakthroughs are to be found, clearance work could take hundreds of years.
“The speed of UXO clearance is dependent on the methods used,” the deputy minister said.
NRA Director Mr Phoukieo Chanthasomboun said 2011 posed several challenges for the authority, but many UXO survivors made great strides with their rehabilitation, including finding meaningful employment.

“However, of the more than 20,000 UXO survivors in the country, only 3,023 have received our help,” he pointed out.

Mr Phoukieo said that in 2011 the NRA was able to track down 92 new UXO accident survivors, but added that this figure was most likely inaccurate due to the difficulty of reporting all incidents.
He said most accident survivors are in need of vocational training and financial support to improve their livelihoods as they come from very poor families.

The NRA’s operations are key to ensuring the implementation of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 9 to reduce the impact of UXO in Laos in accordance with the National Strategic Plan for the UXO sector known as ‘The Safe Path Forward II’.

This MDG should further function as a multiplier to MDGs 1-7 by providing increased access to assets and services for improved livelihoods.

More than 28,000 hectares of UXO-contaminated land have been cleared since 1996. By 2020 it is hoped that UXO will have been cleared from 200,000 hectares of land.

Source: Vientiane Times
By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
(Latest Update January 24, 2012)