Vietnam at the technical battle against bombs and American mines

Organized by the Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC) and supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government from South Korea, the course will last three years and will be held in the provinces of Quang Binh and Binh Dinh.

In the territories where the parallel 17 extends, which once divided this country still beset, between 30 and 40% of the Earth's surface is still planted with bombs and American mines that often take casualties.

The project participants are divided into 21 detection groups and 52 cleaning groups operating in an area of ​​20,000 hectares.

At the inauguration of the course, Deputy Director VNMAC Chief Nguyen Van Nghiep said that the removal of unexploded ordnance will largely depend on a computer program, which will make the job safer, faster and more accurate.

The content of the training was developed He explained that UNDP and VNMAC were following the best methods applied in technical support projects around the world, giving less importance to the theory. and more time to practice.

For his part, Nil Chirstensen of UNDP that the program has been successfully executed in 20 countries, with the aim of improving the capacity and capacity of agencies to plan and define priority actions against bombs and bombs. mines.

The US military used more than 15 million tons of bombs and mines in Vietnam, four times more than was used in World War II, as a result of which the Indochinese nation is One of the most polluted

Although the war ended in 1975, bombs, grenades and mines that did not explode killed more than 42,000 people and injured some 62,000 people, a list that continues to grow.

The main victims are peasants from the center and south of the country, sometimes in involuntary contact with an explosive device, others trying to dismantle those they find while plowing their land, then sell the metal and explosives. 19659003] The tragedy could still be long, as it is estimated that nearly one-fifth of the 800,000 tons of bombs dropped by American planes have not exploded, but continues to track down the victims.

OCS / ASG