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Ali Makhmatkhanov - Crusher Field Officer
October 22, 2001

This has not been a good week for all of us here in Georgia. The war which has been fought in the Caucasus since the summer of 1999 finally spread to Abkhazia and there was fighting in the hills for most of the week.

For much of the week there was a lot of military activity, particularly in Ochamchire region. The reports on the news were very confusing with many tales of Chechen gunmen running around in big groups but they never seemed to appear. Many people in Abkhazia were called to join the fighting but I was left alone. Nobody I have met has actually seen a gunman and nobody I know has been hurt.

Unfortunately there were reports of fighting in villages close to where we have been working and so no clearance work was carried out all week. But this was not entirely bad as it gave us the chance to give all of the mechanical equipment a full service so that as soon as the fighting ended we could return to work.

When we work the crusher we use a remote control set which allows us to stand (under cover) a hundred metres from the machine and start and stop it without having to walk up to it. This is important when there is an explosive item on the feed belt. What happens is that the Medium Wheeled Loaders feed contaminated soil into the crusher, before being crushed the soil is carried on a conveyor belt and passes under a metal detector brake, which stops the feed belt if there is an item of metal in the soil.

We are most worried about rocket propelled grenades because if they explode they can do a lot of damage, but we also need to stop things like reinforcing bars going through the machine as these can also damage it. If there is a hazardous item on the belt, then we put the belt in reverse and the explosive item falls into a pit where it can be destroyed without damaging the machine. Unfortunately the cable which connects the remote control to the machine has been damaged and we have had to have a new one sent. The new cable arrives in Georgia today just in time for the return to work, and so not being able to work was a bit of a blessing.