The military headquarters of the central province of Quang Ngai on February defused an American bomb of nearly 350kg in a local village. This bomb was discovered Jan. 30 in Kim Giao village, Pho Thuan commune, Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province by local people. Villagers had seen five strangers attempting to dig up a bomb. After the strangers were scared off they called the local government. The local government assigned militia to guard the bomb and it was reported to the Quang Ngai provincial military headquarters. Ten days later the bomb was deactivated. Statistics show 20.2% or 6.6 million ha of land are affected by unexploded ordnance in Vietnam. About 104,000 people have been injured or killed this way since 1975. Nearly 97 million tons of bombs, of which 296,000 are cluster munitions, were carpeted across Vietnam between 1965 and 1975. Every geographic area in Vietnam, both rural and urban, has been contaminated with 16 different types of cluster bombs and ammunition. Most of it was found at depths of 30 to 70cm, experts said. They said that it would take at least 440 years and $10 billion to clear this left over ammunition across the nation, adding that it would have an enormous impact on human life, socio-economic development and the environment. Experts said unexploded munitions would discourage people from cultivating their land, reducing farm productivity and hampering socio-economic development. Each year the Vietnamese Government spends hundreds of millions of dollars on clearance and other mine action activities. Funding also comes from several non-governmental organizations and foreign donors.
