|
1. Overview
During August 2001 HALO/AAR TBS funded manual sections continued working on Toul Prasat minefield where they demined 5,374m2 of land, found and destroyed six mines and three items of UXO.
During August there was a lot of heavy monsoon rains in Cambodia and on many occasions during the month the minefield became flooded. Work stopped on these days and the deminers were tasked with cutting and painting minefield marking sticks. The HALO Trust office in Anlong Veng was flooded twice during August when the Anlong Veng river burst its banks.
Toul Prassat II minefield was completed on the 24th of August and the AAR TBS funded sections have now moved on to another minefield in the village. This minefield is located two hundred meters west of Toul Prassat School and is being demined for agricultural land for six families, at the moment the families have no land and rely on WFP food aid to feed themselves. Toul Prassat Village Chief and Anlong Veng District Chief requested HALO to demine at this site. HALO expects that clearance on this site will take five to six months to complete.
2. Future Plans
AAR / TBS funded demining sections will continue to work in Toul Prassat four minefield during September. Work will finish early in September as the Cambodian National holiday of Pechum Behh is in the middle of September. HALO staff will finish work on September 14th and will return to work after the holiday on September 21st.
The continued heavy rains has meant that a lot of families have lost their crops due to flooding. The Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are both planning large scale food distribution and HALO expects to provide logistical support for this operation.
During September, Mr Khun Sothy will officially hand over Toul Prassat One minefield to the local authorities. This process involves representatives from the Provincial Departments and the Village Chief waking around the site with representatives from HALO. The HALO staff show the minefield bounderies and hand over copies of minefield maps and details of the number of mines found
David McMahon
Deputy Programme Manager
HALO Cambodia
|
|
|