Quang Binh Receives Financial Aid for Bomb Detection

Quang Binh Province will receive financial aid of nearly VND5.4 billion ($242,000) from the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (GWHF) for an explosive objects detection project. The project is aimed at improving the knowledge and skills of officers at the provincial military command, as well as upgrading essential equipment to help detection and handling of unexploded ordnance (UXO). It will focus on forming UXO detection and disposal training centres for the command, equipping the command with UXO detectors and other technical equipment, as well as providing knowledge and techniques on bomb detection and disposal to the province's functional units as per the International Mine Action Standards, levels 1, 2, 3. Advanced methods of handling UXO, collecting systems and multidimensional detection systems to find UXO at different ground levels will also be introduced. The project will end at the end of this year. All of the province's wards and communes have been affected by bombs left over by wars, with the total affected area being nearly 225,000ha. Over the last decade, unexploded bombs have caused more than 160 accidents in the province, killing 49 people and injuring 115. (http://vietnamnews.vn/ Mar 3, Nguoi Lao Dong – Laborer Mar 3 p2)