U.S. Plans $3.5M for Bomb, Landmine Clearance in Vietnam This Year

The U.S. government will provide $3.5 million in aid to help defuse bomb, and land mines left from the war in Vietnam this year, state media reported, citing the U.S. embassy as saying. The funding aims to clean up unexploded ordnance (UXO), raise the public awareness of landmine danger and support related victims in the country. Last year, the U.S. helped defuse more than 11,000 unexploded bombs and mines safely and better the understanding for over 130,000 local residents in the affected areas in a bid to minimize the casualties. Since 1989, the U.S. assistance to mine action in Vietnam has totaled over $62 million to date, spent on provision of equipment, grants made to non-governmental organizations, and capacity-building for national institutions. Vietnam is in dire need of more support from the international community to cope with the consequences of post-war bombs and mines, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan earlier said a recent exchange in Hanoi to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action [April 4]. The UXO contaminated land area makes up over 20% of the country’s area, hampering production and people’s life. The country’s impoverished central region was subject to particularly heavy bombing and mining. Bombs and mines have claimed over 40,000 lives in Vietnam, including 30,000 children, and left 60,000 others injured over the past 37 years, he added. Vietnam needs more than $10 billion and 300 years to clear up war-time bombs and mines, said a representative of the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN). (Thoi Bao Tai Chinh – Financial Times April 11 p11)