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| Two anti-tank mines were discovered and about to be destroyed by CMAC’s officers in a former battlefield in Pailin province. Supplied |
Heng Ratana, general director of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday saying that Japan was the biggest donor in term of contribution to the demining activities in the Kingdom.
“The people and the government of Japan are the biggest donor contributing to demining activities in the Kingdom, in particular, their contribution to CMAC,” wrote Mr. Ratana.
To support his claim, Mr. Ratana talked about a 3-years-project funding by the government of Japan – the so called “Integrated Landmine Clearance and Victim Assistance Phase II.”
According to Mr. Ratana, the project is implemented by CMAC in three districts— Rattanak Mondul, Banon and Bavel districts – heavily affected by landmine in Battambang province, in a view to clear landmine and to help villagers to develop their district such as building roads, ponds, and leveling land for farmers to grow their crop.
He also said that so far, throughout this project, around 10,000 hectares of land were cleared from mines/UXOs; and over 47, 000 mines/UXOs were destroyed; over 40,000 community members were instructed about the danger of landmines and its preventive measures; 23 local roads were constructed with the total length of 70 kilometers; 15 community ponds were build; and 496 hectares of agricultural land were leveled for farmers.
However, this phase II project will be completed at the end of October 2016; and CMAC strongly hopes the people and the government of Japan will continue to provide technical and financial assistance for CMAC to clear the remaining landmines/UXO in the country.
According a statement issued by Japan’s Embassy in Phnom Penh, to help Cambodian people live in a safer place, the government of Japan supports Cambodia’s efforts to achieve the target stated in the “National Mine Action Strategy 2010-2019.” However, Japan urges the Cambodian government to strictly control the budget for demining operations in order to achieve its goals.
Khmer Times could not reach representative of CMAC, in charge of public relation and general information, for information concerning other projects being implemented by CMAC.
Nevertheless, according to CMAC’s website, besides landmines clearance, CMAC is also contributing to sustainable development activities in the areas affected by landmines, by cooperating with international NGOs and private sector in a variety of projects such as Community-Based Mine Risk Reduction Program (CBMRR), Mine Clearance in Battambang (MCB).
On the other hand, with the new ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre (ARMAC), CMAC will do its best to help all ASEAN countries in the region to clear mines and unexploded munitions in the dangerous area in their country.
Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in his speech during the launch of ARMAC, said that he has a strong confidence that the ARMAC will play a crucial role in the exchange of information, capacity building, and awareness of the danger from UXOs in the region in order to respond to the main goal of the ASEAN countries that want to live in peace, security, social order and progress.
He also said that after almost three decades of civil war, Cambodia was considered as the country that has more mines and UXOs than other countries around the world. According to him, there are about four to six million UXOs buried in Cambodian soil. Among these UXOs, haft million tons were from the bombing campaign of the different air force.
Nevertheless, Mr. Sokhonn admitted that from 1992 to 2016, around 1,461 square kilometers of land were cleared from mines and UXOs; other 1,545 square kilometers of land were not cleared yet; but 1,640 square kilometers of land will be cleared in2025 and the amount of $338.5 million will be required for this operation.
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