Cambodia
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Transcript
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March 2002, Bangkok Lt.Gen. Khem Sophoan, Director General,
CMAC The Landmine Problem CMAC estimates that up until 1998, four to six million landmines were laid in Cambodia. As a result, an estimated 300,000 square meters of land remains mine-affected. The removal of landmines is one of the highest priorities of the Cambodian Government since approximately 5,420 villages (45% of all villages) are contaminated by their presence. According to the Cambodian Red Cross, 809 landmine casualties were reported in 2001, a decrease from 839 in 2000. Mine Action CMAC was established to save lives and support the development of Cambodia by determining clearance priorities that respond to the safety and economic concerns of affected populations. CMAC clears land for immediate use by the affected community. If there is no clear indication of who will benefit and how they will benefit, CMAC will not clear the land. During 2001, 46 demining teams were deployed to various mine-infested areas. Approximately 17,802 square meters of land was cleared. In total, an estimated 90,721,212 square meters has been cleared since 1992. CMAC’s staff of 2,300 participates in mine risk education activities, mine mapping, marking, and clearance, and deminer training. The staff consists of 49 demining platoons, 19 mine marking teams (1 team=5 people), 16 EOD teams, and 12 community mine marking teams. Community mine marking teams support community development and also function as a quick response team. Innovations and combinations of mine detection and clearance methods have led to the success of CMAC in mine action activities. For example, the integration of brush cutters, mine detection dogs, and mine detection have led to an 80-100% increase in productivity and the concept of community-based mine risk reduction has facilitated the dissemination of mine awareness messages. CMAC has also discovered ways to maximize productivity through careful monitoring of its mine action operations. This has proven that female mine detection dogs are more efficient than males and that audiences are more receptive to female mine awareness instructors. Still, CMAC faces the challenges of defining boundaries in mined areas, improving the safety, quality, and productivity of its mission, determining new operations methods, improving overall management, and identifying sources of funding. In the
future, CMAC hopes to increase and nationalize its EOD
capacity, increase the number of brush cutters (Japanese
Government) in its supply, establish a multi-skilled team for
a flexible demining capacity, develop procedures to use its
demining toolbox effectively, and continue improving its
national staff capacity to reduce technical assistance
support. Significant Dates March 1992 UN operations begin in Cambodia June 1992 CMAC is established November 1993 CMAC operations begin November 2000 CMAA is established May 2002 National Level One Survey to be conducted Q&A
Session Dave McCracken (Senior
Technical Advisor, TMAC) Question: How many dogs does CMAC deploy for demining operations? Answer: 5 dog teams (1 team=6 dogs) Jim Spence (Demining Program
Manager, U.S. Pacific Command) Question: How do CMAC/CMAA work with the NGO community? Answer: CMAC is the coordination entity and CMAA is the operator dealing with international standards and SOPs based on standards DS Weeraman (Commanding Officer,
Sri Lanka Army) Question: Do you find traps across minefields? Clarification: Stephen Bradley (Senior Technical Advisor, MAG) Improvised mines? Answer: Mines with fertilizer were locally used by the Khmer Rouge. Other examples of these improvised mines have been found 10 m deep in cans. |
