The top of an unexploded M117 bomb found in a home in Quang Binh last week. (Photo: zing.vn) Quang Binh (VNS/VNA) - The VietnamNational Mine Action Centre (VNMAC) on March 19 received 200 explosivedetectors donated by the government of the Republic of Korea (RoK).
The detectors will be used for a project on reducing the impacts of unexplodeddevices left over from the war in the central province of Quang Binh.
Commencedin March last year, the project is run by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), theKorea International Cooperation Agency and Vietnamese partners. Along with thetasks in bomb clearance, the project aims to assist development in the areaswith most unexploded devices.
At the ceremony held in the province’s Quang Ninh district, the RoK’s Ambassadorto Vietnam Kim Do-hyon said the project is significant for the clearance ofwartime unexploded devices in Vietnam as well as for the Republic of Korea and Vietnamto enhance their friendship.
The ceremony was accompanied by visits to the fields and a seminar to educatelocal children on the dangers posed by unexploded devices.
According to VNMAC, the centre has investigated the central provinces of QuangBinh and Binh Dinh and found 4,600ha of land embedded with the devices. A totalof 4,500 locals have been trained to protect themselves from unexploded bombsas well as to earn a sustainable living on land that is littered withunexploded devices.
Quang Binh itself has 225,000ha of the land, occupying 30 percent of theprovince’s total area, and the project has partly helped to ensure locals aresafe from explosive device accidents during farming.
Earlier last week, MAG (Mines Advisory Group) successfully removed a large bombfound in the district’s Quan Hau township. The 330kg bomb was unearthed when aresident dug the foundations for a house.
The specialists recognised it was a 750lb general-purpose M117 bomb used by theUS Army during the war time and they spent seven hours excavating and defusingthe bomb.-VNS/VNA
VNA
