Mine clearing in North almost completed
Ninety-five percent of the Confirmed Hazardous area has been
cleared of mines, according to the National Mine Action Center which was
established in the Economic Development Ministry after the war. The remaining
confirmed hazard area (CHA) is only 96 square kilometers as at the end of March
2013. Most of this area is covered with shrubs and jungle.
The massive pace of demining has helped the Government to
resettle all IDPs.
The Mine Action Centre's programme still continues with the
support of UNDP, UNICEF, donor community, the Sri Lanka Army's Engineering
Brigade and national and international de-mining organizations to clear the
hazardous area of land mines, anti-personnel mines, booby traps and unexploded
ordinance (UXOs) the LTTE had laid during the course of the war
Since the gravity of the problem has gradually been reduced,
some of the demining organizations such as Sarvatra, Horizan and MMIPE have
already moved out since their jobs have been completed. The remaining
organizations are still continuing the tasks assigned to them. After they
complete their operations the Army Engineering Brigade, which has the biggest
resources pool comprising manual, mechanical mine detection techniques and mine
Detecting Dogs (MDD), will take over the responsibility in case the need for
more mine clearing arises.
In June 2009, a month after the defeat of LTTE terrorism the
Government with the support of donor communities such as, Australia, Japan,
China, India, EU, USA, etc, UNDP, UNICEF, national and international mine action
operators implemented a comprehensive and rapid de-mining programme to clear the
affected areas estimated to be 2064 square kilometers.
Courtesy : Department of Government Information
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