Quang Tri to clear 3,000 hectares of land polluted with bombs and mines

This is part of a plan to implement an action program to overcome the consequences of bombs and mines left over from the war in the period of 2021-2025, recently issued by the Quang Tri Provincial People's Committee.

Under the plan, every year, 60,000 people have access to the education program on mine prevention and avoidance; from 1,300 to 1,500 victims and their families receive medical support and livelihood development. By 2025, all schools will bring mine risk education programs into the curriculum.

To achieve this goal, Quang Tri Province proposed solutions including promoting the mobilization of foreign funding for the work of overcoming the consequences of bombs and mines left over from the war; developing policies to develop human resources for bomb and mine recovery work; and well carrying out dissemination on overcoming the consequences of mines and bombs in order to raise awareness and responsibility of authorised agencies and people.

Quang Tri is the province with the highest rate of mine and bomb pollution in the country, with 82% of the total land area polluted. Bombs and mines remaining after the war in Quang Tri have left more than 3,430 people dead and 5,100 injured. Since 1995, Quang Tri Province began cooperating with international organizations to carry out mine and bomb clearance activities.

Quang Tri is aiming to be the first province in Vietnam to be free from bomb and mine accidents by 2025. To achieve this goal, it is estimated that each year the province needs an additional budget of about USD10-12 million./.