Vietnam Seeks $500M for Wartime Bomb, Mine Clearance

Vietnam is seeking $500 million from domestic and international sources to help clear war-era bombs and mines as well as land contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXO) next years. Vietnam already has available $200 million to demine 500,000 hectares of land in 14 provinces by 2015, or 7.6% of the total affected land, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Bui Hong Linh said at an international seminar in Hanoi Dec 5 on settling consequences caused by UXO. UXO has killed more than 42,000 people and injured more than 62,000 nearly four decades after the war ended, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said, adding that the Vietnamese government wishes to continue receiving valuable help and support from the international community to overcome the consequences of bombs and mines. 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. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Bruce Shear stressed that the U.S. wants to boost cooperation with the Vietnamese government, NGOs and international organizations in overcoming war aftermaths, including explosive remnants of war, in the country. David Shear added that the U.S. had already provided $62 million to help survivors of UXO accidents. Experts estimated it will take hundreds of years to clear up unexploded bombs and mines in Vietnam, the world’s second-largest producer of coffee and the second-biggest rice exporter. The Southeast Asian country launched a UXO action program in 2010 to raise awareness, apply the latest demining technology and reduce accidents that have hit mostly children and workers. (Reuters Dec 5, vietnamplus.vn Dec 5)