Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed to set up a steering committee for repairing consequences of bombs and mines left in the Vietnam War. The committee led by the Prime Minister, minister of national defense and minister of labor, invalids and social affairs, will call on supports from domestic and foreign sources as well as propose measures for bomb and mine clearance. It is estimated that up to 600,000 tons of landmines and UXO are scattered across Vietnam, resulting in the contamination of 6.6 millions hectares of land, statistics from the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) showed. The center said that it will take several decades to eliminate this threat. 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 take up to 300 years to clear up bombs and mines left from the war, said Col. Nguyen Trong Canh, director of the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN) under the Ministry of National Defense. (Lao Dong – Labor Dec 23, Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Dec 23 p1)
