In response to a request made by the Kingdom of Cambodia, the UN, through its Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has agreed to send chemical experts to help Cambodia remove US chemical bombs found in Cambodia's territory.
General Chey Son, Secretary General of the OPCW National Authority, told Fresh News on Tuesday that the UN would soon send experts in chemical weapon to work with Cambodian counterpart to examine the found US chemical bombs in Svay Rieng province.
Gen. Chey Son added that at most, in two weeks, his OPCW National Authority would cooperate with the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) to remove the US Chemical bombs.
The found US Chemical bombs in Svay Rieng's Korki commune were confirmed by experts from the OPCW National Authority to be chemical weapons in the kind of Nitrogen Mustard also known as Blister Agent that causes heavy damages to human skin and lung.
Following the event of the US chemical bombs in Svay Rieng Province, as of October 26, the Cambodian Ministry of Health affirmed that 89 Cambodian people living in the US chemical bombs drop zone were hospitalized. And the ministry believed they were affected by chemical bombs.
On October 29, in a speech to the ruling party CPP's supporters in Saang District, Kandal Province, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon said that his government had filed a complaint to the UN asking them to help Cambodia clear the US chemical bombs by providing adequate human and technical support.
In view to help CMAC be prepared for the bid of a new US world-class demining project next year, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, on November 15, sent a letter to CMAC telling them that the US Government would provide funding to CMAC for the first two months in 2018.
According to Mr. Heng Ratana, CMAC's Director General, the US funding would help the Cambodian government to lighten its heavy financial burden regarding different developments in the country, including landmine clearance.
To Mr. Ratana, the funding expressed the US strong commitment and goodwill to help Cambodian people clear landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left from the Vietnam War.
According to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), all States Parties have the obligation to destroy any chemical weapons they abandoned on the territory of other countries in the past.
On the other hand, Mr. Ratana wrote on his Facebook page that the People's Republic of China, through the Embassy of China in Phnom Penh, on Monday, donated 1,200 wheelchairs, 40 motorbikes, and a number of other demining equipments to the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA).
During the handover ceremony, Mr. Serey Kosal, CMAA's vice president, told reporters that with China's funding of about $400 million, all landmines in Cambodia would be cleared even before the deadline in 2025.
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