Tuesday, August 21, 2012








"I have taken this risky job to support the family. There was no other option if we want to survive.”


UN praises de-mining progress


...
A UN spokesman has praised Sri Lanka’s progress in removing landmines from former war-torn areas.

“It has achieved excellent results. Sri Lanka may complete the process soon,” said Subine Nandy, the UN’s resident representative, at a progress review in Colombo on Tuesday.

Nandy attributed the achievement to the efficient coordination of efforts made by several different bodies.

The country is now in its third year of peace after government forces defeated the separatist Tamil Tigers in May 2009. But the presence of landmines, buried in villages, forests and agricultural lands, remains a deadly threat.

According to the Ministry of Defense, almost half a million anti-personnel mines, 1,395 anti-tank mines and nearly 400,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance had been recovered as of June 2012.

Removal work is being carried out by the humanitarian unit of the Sri Lankan army alongside organizations such as the Danish De-mining Group, the India Sarvatra Group, Horizon Group, HALO Trust, the Mines Advisory Group and the Swiss Foundation for De-mining.

Around 3,600 people have been deployed for the high risk de-mining process. Some of them are war widows that have been trained for the task.

“Everything my family had was destroyed in the war,” said one of them. “I have taken this risky job to support the family. There was no other option if we want to survive.”


Full Story : http://www.ucanews.com/2012/08/17/un-praises-de-mining-progress/

(Ananda Madagedara)

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