Saturday, 19 December 2009 09:54 DAP-NEWS/ Ek Madra
(CAAI News Media)
PHNOM PENH: A UK-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) announced late Friday to provide 550,360 euros for Cambodia to clear mines in two provinces for period of two years.
MAG, which has been helped Cambodia to clear the explosive devices since 1992, said the money will be spent for clearing mines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in northwestern provinces of Battambang and Pailin where reporting the highest numbers of mine/UXO casualties in this former war-torn nation, said the release.
“MAG will utilize this funding to deploy one manual clearance team, one Mine Detection Dog team and one vegetation clearance machine that will provide safe land to benefit the poorest and most marginalized members of communities,” said the release.
Leng Sochea, spokesman of Cambodia Mine Action Group (CMAG), welcome the aid and said such the assistance enable the de-miners to clear more farmland for the poor in the countryside where 85 percent of the country's population lived.
He said although the money will go to MAG not CMAG, but it is however another plus for Cambodia.
"This is a small aid but means a lots in term of clearing landmines in our country because MAG works closely with the local authorities," said Sochea.
"MAG goes to de-mine where farmers want them to do so, this will help us to reduce poverty," he said.
An estimated 30 percent out of its total 13.5 million lived under the poverty line of making less than a dollar per day.
“MAG is proud to be able to bring support from a new donor to the mine action sector in Cambodia,” said Jamie Franklin, Country Programme Manager for MAG Cambodia.
“Cambodia needs landmine and UXO clearance to support socio-economic development and poverty alleviation efforts and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Safe land is needed so that people can grow enough food, and for infrastructure like water supplies and schools.”
Belgium has long taken an interest in dealing with landmines and other ordnance, becoming the first country to ban anti-personnel landmines in 1995 and also the first country to ban cluster munitions in 2006.
According to Belgian Ambassador in Bangkok, Rudi Veestraeten, “By funding landmine and UXO clearance activities in Cambodia, Belgium wishes to re-affirm that it is committed to promoting and achieving a world free of landmines and cluster munitions.”
“My country played a pioneering role in the campaign for international conventions banning landmines and cluster munitions,” said Veestraeten in the release.
Belgium started supporting landmine clearance in the 1990’s and is now also funding physical rehabilitation centers and prevention activities in Cambodia.
This financial support and previous development activities supported by Belgium in the sectors of health and education, showed the commitment of the Belgian government towards development in Cambodia, it said.
Sochea also said that there are three de-mining agencies in Cambodia including CMAG, Hallo Trust and MAG.
Sochea said over the last 17 years, the three de-mining agencies have removed more than 800,000 anti-personal landmines, more than 1 million UXO devices and also 20,000 anti-tanks mines.
Cambodia is one of the world’s most heavily landmines and unexploded ordnance buried of between 4-6 million which remained from its 30 years of civil war and killed an estimated 60,000 since 1992 many of them are children.
"If we could receive $330 million per year from donor, we could clear them all by the end of 2019," Sochea said.
The Belgian government also supports MAG’s work in Iraq, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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