Trieu Phong, Quang Tri (25 February 2021) – At the central demolition site in Linh An Village of Trieu Trach Commune on Thursday, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team managed by Project RENEW and Norwegian People’s Aid (RENEW/NPA) safely destroyed a dozen of unexploded projectiles and mortar rounds.
Earlier that day, these dangerous explosives had been removed from Ky Lam village of Gio Quang commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province, where RENEW/NPA’s four technical survey teams were working to define contaminated land to target for full clearance.
On Wednesday, a technical survey team unearthed a cache of 12 projectiles and mortars, and coordinated with the EOD team to ensure their safe demolition. The buried munitions were identified six projectiles of 105 and 100mm and six mortars. Because of their caliber and status, EOD team leader Hoang Kim Chien decided to remove them for safe disposal at the central demolition site.
This week marked a good start of the Explosive Ordnance Survey and Clearance program in the Year of the Ox amidst the pandemic which hasn’t been yet totally contained in Vietnam. Because of recent COVID-19 outbreaks in 13 provinces including Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City since 27 Jan 2021, all the office and field staff have been requested to strictly adhere to government advice on social distancing to avoid infection.
So far in 2021, the technical survey teams of RENEW/NPA have covered over 3.8 million square meters of land to define confirmed hazardous areas that need clearance. Over 480 cluster munitions and other explosive ordnance have been located and safely destroyed.
The survey and clearance operations of Project RENEW in cooperation with Norwegian People’s Aid Vietnam in Quang Tri Province are funded by the U.S. Department of State and UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.
Project RENEW was established in 2001 as a joint effort between the government of Quang Tri Province and interested INGOs to “restore the environment and neutralize the effects of the war”.
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has worked in Vietnam since 2007 and collaborated with national and provincial authorities to implement capacity development, survey and clearance projects in Hanoi, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Binh provinces.
