The members of our non-technical survey (NTS) team on 8 April 2022 reached an important milestone when they visited the last assessable villages in Huong Hoa District. This marks the completion of NTS by RENEW/NPA in all accessible villages (to date) in Quang Tri Province.

In Long An village of Tan Long commune, one of the last areas RENEW/NPA conducted NTS, local people were asked if they knew of any explosive ordnance in their village. Mr. Ho Tien and his wife, an ethnic Bru Van Kieu couple who grow cassava in Long An village, confirmed with the team members that they had encountered wartime munitions while farming. “It is such a relief to know that our land will be surveyed and cleared so that local farmers will have safe land to farm,” said 20-year-old Ho Tien.

NTS is an important first step in any survey process, as it allows community members to share their knowledge of explosive ordnance with RENEW/NPA teams. This local information is crucial in helping RENEW/NPA to identify all areas with confirmed contamination from explosive ordnance. Now that NTS is completed in all areas where RENEW/NPA is able to operate, all the NTS personnel have started training to learn technical survey, so they can join their colleagues in following up on the information learned during NTS. 

The Explosive Ordnance Survey and Clearance Program of RENEW/NPA is funded by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement at the U.S. Department of State.