Germany Funds EUR342,363 for Bomb, Landmine Clearance in Central Vietnam

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted EUR342,363 to help defuse bomb, and land mines left by the war in Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien-Hue. The funding given through the Solidarity Service International (SODI), a German non-governmental organization (NGO) aims to clean up unexploded ordnance (UXO) in two wards of Huong Van and Huong Van, Huong Tra town. Since 1998, the SODI has helped clean up landmines for over 1,000 ha in the central province of Quang Tri and 500 ha in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue serving for resettlement areas and agricultural land.  The UXO contaminated land area makes up over 20% of the country’s area, causing difficulties for production and people’s life. The country’s impoverished central region was subject to particularly heavy bombing and mining. Bombs and mines have claimed around 104,000 lives in Vietnam since 1975 and it caused deaths to additional 300 to 600 people annually, the UNDP said.  Vietnam needs more than $10 billion and 300 years to clear up bombs and mines left from the war, said a representative of the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN). (Thanh Nien –Young People Dec 22 p2)