According
to a report presented in Luanda last
week at a meeting of the National Inter-sector Demining and
Humanitarian Assistance Commission, CNIDAH, there were 67 mine
accidents in Angola in 2005, resulting in 26 deaths
and 70 people injured.
As
a result of demining work in 2005, 14.2 million square metres
of land and 668 kilometres of roads were cleared through the
removal of 5,128 mines – 4,770 anti-personnel mines and
358 anti-tank mines - while another 3,942 explosive devices
were destroyed.
The
work was done by the National Demining Institute, the Engineering
Section of the Angolan Armed Forces and six foreign non-governmental
organisations.
Demining
operations in Angola since
2002 have made it possible to clear an area of 33.2 million
square metres and nearly 13,000 kilometres of roads. During
this period, 30,047 anti-personnel mines, 2,564 anti-tank mines
and 158,558 unexploded devices were removed.
Despite
these efforts and action to increase public awareness of the
danger of mines, there are still mine accidents every year. According
to official figures, the 67 accidents last year included 41
with anti-personnel mines, 26 with anti-tank mines and the
remainder with other unexploded ordnance.
There
are an estimated 80,000 mine victims in Angola, most of them former soldiers
of working age and a low level of schooling who live in rural
areas.
Mine
clearance is one of the Angolan government’s priorities,
as part of the strategy to combat poverty, the aim being to
make it possible to resettle people displaced by war and achieve
economic and social development through the free movement of
people and goods.
There
are mines scattered throughout Angola, but the most affected provinces
are Bié, Huambo, Kuando Kubango and Lunda Norte and
Moxico.
According
to the CNIDAH, among the many factors that make mine clearance
operations difficult are the fact that many mines were laid
in a random manner, especially during the war. The existence of many types of mine and
the fact that several mines linked together are often found
also make it more difficult to remove them, as does the size
of the country, which covers an area of more than 1.2 million
square kilometres.
The
government approved a National Demining Programme for 2006-2007
in early December. It provides for the setting up of 43
demining brigades involving about 3,000 men.
According
to the most recent official statistics, more than 1,500 mine
fields have been identified, and the authorities estimate that
between six and eight million mines were laid during the three
decades of war.
Demining
work in recent years has revealed 79 different types of mine
manufactured in different 21 countries.
The
government will be holding a workshop on demining, in support
of national reconstruction and the electoral process, in Luanda from
28 to 30 March.
The
workshop, to be chaired by Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade
Dias dos Santos ‘Nandó’, will be attended
by National Assembly deputies, members of the government and
representatives of United Nations agencies and NGOs. It
will seek to set out strategies to boost government national
reconstruction programmes and other action providing proper
conditions for holding elections, i.e. to make them more dynamic
and operational.
London, 27 March 2006
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