UXO-free land handed over to Binh Dinh province

(VOVWORLD) - An area of land free from landmines and explosive remnants was handed over to Binh Dinh provincial authorities at a ceremony on Tuesday.

UXO-free land handed over to Binh Dinh province - ảnh 1

The land was surveyed and cleared under the Korea-Vietnam Mine Action Project with 20 million USD funded by the Republic of Korea. The project, which began in 2018 has identified contaminated areas and removed landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Binh Dinh and Quang Binh province. The project also supports victims and raises people’s awareness of the risks of mines and UXO. 40% of the land in Binh Dinh is still contaminated with explosives and 28% of the land in Quang Binh.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Vice Chairwoman of Phu Cat district, one of project’s beneficiaries, said: “The project has cleared a large area of land for production and infrastructure development,like schools and health facilities. The project has helped 4,000 victims improve their lives.”

UXO-free land handed over to Binh Dinh province - ảnh 2

So far, nearly 17,000 ha have been surveyed and 5,700 ha have been cleared. Cho Han-Deog, National Director of the Korean International Cooperation Agency Office in Vietnam, said: "We are preparing for the second phase of the project. In addition to landmine and UXO clearance, we will implement small-scale projects on the cleared land to improve local people’s lives.”

During two wars against French and American invaders between 1945 and 1975, more than 15 million tons of explosives were dropped on Vietnam, four times the dropped in World War II. Some 800,000 tons of unexploded ordnance remains scattered across Vietnam.

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