The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding.
It was said in a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of the fifth phase of MAG’s project on detecting and clearing UXOs signed recently by representatives from the provincial People’s Committee and the group. The project aims to minimise the risk of casualties caused by bombs and mines left over from wars, and provide support for war-affected people in the locality, which was hard hit by bombings during wartime.
MAG is a non-governmental organisation working actively to ensure safety for production and people living in localities plagued by UXOs in Vietnam.
Under the project implemented in Quang Binh from 2002, MAG has cleared nearly 1.9 million sq.m of land and defused about 86,000 devices, benefiting more than 1.4 million locals.
The consequences of war-era leftover UXOs still exist visibly nationwide, especially in the northern central provinces.
According to preliminary statistics, since 1975, mines and UXOs have claimed more than 40,000 lives and left about 60,000 injured, mostly rural people and children.
The volume of mines and UXOs left by the war is now estimated at 800,000 tonnes, contaminating over 20 percent of the country’s land.
