Vietnam and the United State Dec 30 signed a memorandum of understanding to grant $17 million for the Southeast Asian country’s Agent Orange cleanup project in the 2011-2013 period, the U.S. embassy said. The project which will start next July will cover cleanup at the Danang airport area which was home to the former U.S. base in the Vietnam War, said U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak at the signing ceremony. The MoU shows the governments’ mutual desire to cleanup and reduce contamination in the area, the ambassador added in a statement. During the Vietnam War U.S. aircraft flying from bases including Danang sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides to strip trees of foliage, in a bid to deprive communist forces of cover and food. The herbicides contained potentially cancer-causing dioxin. In preparation for the cleanup, the U.S. awarded a contract late last year for building a secure landfill site to hold contaminated soil and sediment at the airport, where the U.S. is focusing its help at Vietnam's request.
“The two governments are now jointly preparing for the design, procurement and implementation of the project,” Michalak said. A Vietnamese doctor testified before the U.S. Congress this year that more than three million Vietnamese have suffered the effects of wartime herbicides. Vietnam and the U.S. normalized relations 15 years ago. (AFP Dec 30, Tuoi Tre – Youth Dec 31 p2)
