Issue 5.1 | April 2001 | Information in this issue may be out of date. Click here to link to the most recent issue.
GERBERA
Mine Action Activities in Vietnam and Laos
by Lisa M. Vanada, MAIC
| In an attempt to help Vietnamese villagers resettle their UXO-contaminated homeland, Germany’s GERBERA took the clearance initiative in 1998. As of July 2000, it had successfully relocated 40 families and expanded operations to Laos. |
Much of the content for this article has been gathered from an interview with Lutz Vogt, the General Manager for GERBERA. Vogt is responsible for GERBERA’s demining and UXO clearance activities and has participated in the projects described in this article.
Overview of GERBERA
The GERBERA demining organization was founded in 1994 to provide three
main services: EOD activities in Germany, where the organization is based; international
EOD and demining assistance; and local and international special engineer services,
which include the surveillance and cleanup of any kind of environmental waste.
Although GERBERA often cooperates with humanitarian associations and local governments,
it is equipped to deal with every facet of a mine clearance project.
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Quang Tri province demining team. c/o GERBERA |
Resettlement and Relocation
in Vietnam
Over 25 years ago, villagers in the Quang Tri province of Vietnam were
evacuated during the Vietnam War. These villagers abandoned their farms and
homes for a military base situated in a nearby river valley. However, this situation
was far from optimal because the river floods twice a year, limiting the agricultural
success of the evacuees. In spite of the poor farming conditions, the villagers
remained on the base; UXO contamination prevented them from returning to their
homelands. A German NGO based in Berlin recognized the need for a resettlement
program and began the process of preparing the land for the villagers’ return.
In May of 1998, GERBERA began mapping the two villages in the districts of Cam
Lo and Ai Tu. After methodically clearing 171 hectares of over 5,000 UXO, the
villagers were finally allowed to return to their lands.
In an attempt to escape the UXO, villagers in Vietnam’s Hue province migrated
south to the Cau Hai lagoon. Approximately 5,000 peasants currently live on
boats and attempt to make their living fishing in the overcrowded lagoon. The
area is overpopulated and the constant fishing has expended the natural resources.
The fish they catch are pathetically small; the biggest are only five centimeters
long and most of the local wildlife departed long ago. Vogt explains the situation
as “notonly a social problem, but an environmental
one.” In 1999, GERBERA began surveying land designated for the relocation of
the lagoon residents. It began removing UXO in July 2000 and has presently cleared
enough land for 40 families.
Potsdam Kommunkation, the German NGO heading the relocation project, hopes that
a stable village existence will allow families to send their children to school
for the first time. In the past, many of the families traveled seasonally to
follow the fish and the shrimp migration. Relocated families are given land
where they can build homes and cultivate small farms. By working the land and
earning a stable living they will be able to build a community with neighbors
and village support.
Equipment and Clearance
In addition to the resettlement and relocation projects in Vietnam, GERBERA
is involved with UXO clearance in Laos. Since September 1996, it has destroyed
over 34,000 UXO in the Luang Prabang province. GERBERA has not used heavy mine
clearing machinery in its Southeast Asian projects for two primary reasons:
terrain and money. Heavy machinery is rarelyused in Vietnam or Laos because
of the muddy terrain and heavy forests, Vogt clarified this decision as one
based on convenience and environmental concern. “You can’t use heavy machines
if you destroy everything you want to preserve in the area,” he said. Paddy
fields, for example, are enclosed with small dams to retain the water. Because
the average field is only 40 by 50 meters, large mine detection or clearance
machinery taken through the area would destroy the dam and most of the field
itself.
The expense of the equipment
also negates practicality. GERBERA tested a computerized detection program in
Laos; the same program has been used successfully in Germany. Although this
technology is feasible in a stable economic environment with high wages, the
relatively low wages in the developing countries in Southeast Asia make expensive
technology an unlikely option from a
financial management per-spective. Mine clearance organi-zations usually find
it more efficient to hire a larger number of clearance workers than to use expensive
computerized systems. Local workers are readily available, relatively inexpensive
to hire, and welcome the opportunity tosupplement
theirincome and participate in clearance activities that increase the safety
of their families and villages.
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Family boat in Cau’Hai Lagoon. c/o GERBERA |
Although few mines are found
in Vietnam, several types of UXO, primarily different types of bomblets and
rifle grenades, contaminate the countryside. The M-16 rifles used in the war
held a small device used to launch 40-mm grenades.
These rifle grenades litter the region and present a constant threat. Because
the grenades were intended to explode shortly after they were launched, the
fuses are very sensitive. Vegetation often partially or fully conceals these
grenades, which have caused more fatal injuries after the war than any detailed
map is drawn up for use in clearance and disposal. According to Vogt, clearing
the mines is the most difficult step in their work. Project supervisors personally
inspect each UXO to analyze the type, location, and other factors that determine
if it is possible to move the UXO. If it can be moved, the workers carefully
transport the UXO to a designated demolition site. Most of the mines GERBERA
has encountered are very old and sensitive. If mines are too unstable to transport,
they are destroyed in situ.
Quality Assurance
GERBERA places a great deal of emphasis on the importance of
quality assurance. Unlike some deminingorganizations, who respond to a community
request to remove a particular UXO or clear a specific area, GERBERA’s activities
in Southeast Asia require large tracts of land to be entirely clear of UXO and
prepared for human inhabitants.To ensure that the designated
land is completely mine-free, GERBERA usually relies on two forms of quality
assurance: internal quality control and external quality control. Because Vietnam
and Laos do not place external quality controls, GERBERA’s internal system has
been revised to provide several levels of clearance checks.
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Clearance worker in Quang Tri. c/o GERBERA |
A typical mine clearance
team consists of several workers who are given daily assignments of UXO-contaminated
zones. Their goal is to clear the entire area of any mines, UXO or metal objects
that could cause a metal detector to sound its alarm. At the end of each day,
team commanders canvas between 20-50 percent of the area their team has cleared
that day. He checks the area without any consistent system, so the clearance
workers are never certain which portions of their area or the adjoining areas
will be inspected. The commander should be able to navigate throughout the cleared
areas without hearing a single beep from the mine detector. Any detected items
are removed immediately and the commander restarts the inspection.
Because this quality assurance system relies heavily upon the functionality
of the metal detectors, these handheld devices are frequently checked. Commanders
test their equipment every
morning and after every break to make sure that it is working properly. In addition
to daily inspections of metal detectors, GERBERA designed a system requiring
each project to create and use a test field. The testfield begins as a completely
cleared piece of land; any objects or minerals that will
cause the mine detectors to signal are removed. Next they carefully map and
create defined signal sites where metal pieces are inserted at different pre-determined
depths. All metal detectors must complete these test fields on a weekly basis,
and every detector is graded for the detection accuracy of every signal site.
This consistent test for detection and depth allows the handlers to notice slight
changes, as the grades are compared for any alterations. Frequent evaluation
of tests and results allows workers to determine even slight technical aberrations.
Vogt explains the importance of this early detection. “It’s very easy to realize
if a technical instrument breaks down completely,” he says, “but very often
it’s not a sudden breakdown but [it] goes slowly. It’s a process. By using this
test field, we can realize very early if such a weakness occurs.”
Training
As a German-based organization, GERBERA has a training advantage: Germany requires
all civilian workers in EOD companies to complete an EOD training school in
Dressen. All employees must receive their licenses from their school, and Vogt
describes this license as a “higher degree”
for EOD workers. Even officers of the Germany military, regardless of rank and
professional experience, are not permitted to participate in EOD work without
obtaining this license. GERBERA uses the material from this German EOD school
to train local workers they hire for specific projects. The training the workers
receive depends on the tasks they will be assigned and the requirements of the
local government.
In Laos, all workers complete basic UXO and landmine training in UXO-Lao’s National
Training School based in Vientiane.
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GERBERA training group. c/o GERBERA |
The United States founded
this school. Special Forces teams from the Pacific Forces train the local deminers.
GERBERA also provides training for specific project assignments and tasks; this
specialized training often includes regional Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
and an introduction to the culture. The task has been simplified over the years
through standardization. When the demining activities began, every organization
had its own SOPs that GERBERA contractors needed to learn. Eventually SOPs were
standardized, and they are currently unified for Laos.
In Vietnam, the training system must accommodate the Vietnamese government’s
regulations. Only the higher-ranking officers are permitted to receive the advanced
training, but basic training is provided daily for the lower-ranking Vietnamese
officers and soldiers. Basic training includes instructions for removing the
normaltechnology, the difference in the technology between mine clearance and
UXO clearance, safety procedures, technical procedures, requirements for quality
control inspections, and standard GERBERA rules and regulations. The high-ranking
officers receive special
training on fuses, ammunition and demolition work, equipment handling and maintenance,
and technical details for repair work.
Cultural Respect
Interactions between the villagers and the professional deminers are frequent
and can be helpful, as the villagers often provide crucial information on UXO
locations and terrain. In return, the experts establish mine awareness education
programs and attempt to accommodate
local customs. GERBERA professionals are taught to respect the cultural and
religious traditions upheld by the countries in which they work. Vogt related
an event that illustrates the importance of respectfulexchanges, particularly
when cultural or religious infractions are unknowingly made.
At the end of a workday in a remote village in Laos, a GERBERA team prepared
to destroy the collected munitions. The team leader visited all the houses in
the village to advise the residents that they should leave. At one of the houses,
he called out to ask if anyone was home. Hearing a muted voice
from inside the house, he stepped over the flowers at the door to enter the
home and asked the woman inside to leave before they detonated the munitions.
He returned to the project site unaware that the flowers at the entrance of
the home signified that an occupant had died. Custom prohibits anyone except
the wife of the dead husband from entering the house.
After the detonation, the team prepared to leave the village but was stopped
by the shaman. He told them the unwelcome visitor had
disturbed the ghosts. To appease the ghosts they must perform a very expensive
ceremony, and the whole team must remain in the village for three days. After
a lengthy dispute the German Commander paid the equivalent of two dollars, the
villagers were satisfied, and the team was allowed to leave.
Vogt stressed that the most important aspect of this transaction was respect.
He explained, “If you negotiate with the peasants you have to respect their
feelings and their traditions. It was impossible simply to leave.” Several GERBERA
policies reflect the value it places on respectful exchanges.
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A deminer uses a hand tool to deal with vegetation. c/o GERBERA |
Expanding
Mine Awareness
A complete GERBERA project task force includes a community awareness team.
For the project in Laos, the team members attended UXO Lao classes on mine awareness
and safety education. Although some of the members are already teachers, they
are all taught basic teaching skills and methods for increasing mine awareness.
Team members are taught to accompany their teaching sessions with diagrams,
pictures, illustrations and puppet shows targeted at children.
In Laos, the GERBERA Community Awareness Team found it necessary to teach adults
and children alike not to make an open fire in the woods without first checking
the soil. After the occurrence of several different incidents involving villagers
who died cultivating new farmland, the team incorporated lessons teaching the
villagers not to cultivate new land before the area is cleared.
Mine education in Vietnam is conducted with the cooperation of the schools.
The GERBERA Community Awareness Team contacts teachers to schedule mine education
sessions. Team members frequently revise sessions to incorporate information
pertinent to local situations or perspectives.
Shortly after GERBERA arrived
in Vietnam, the Community Awareness Team developed an educational program to
address the dangers of scrap metal collecting. Many Vietnamese men gathered
grenades and UXO to sell as scrapmetal, but often their crude digging tools
and inexperience led to injuries and death. The teaching sessions were most
successful when they focused on educating the women and children. The women
could often persuade their husbands and sons to stop recovering scrap metal.
Continued Diligence
Vogt emphasized that the adherence to structured project assessments, quality
control regulations,
equipment assess-ments and promotion of mine education and awareness is not
limited to the projects in Laos and Vietnam. GERBERA personnel are required
to complete advanced training in services ranging from mine detection, mapping,
and mine neutralization and clearance, to mine awareness education and local
training. Because they offer a wide range of skills and knowledge, GERBERA personnel
are often called upon to provide specific assistance for international demining
programs, in addition to entire project assignments. As long as humanitarian
organizations and local and international governments and associations continue
to acknowledge and address mine contamination problems, GERBERA plans to continue
their mine action and their efforts to cleanse the environment.
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Contact Information
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