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Georgia Diary
October 29, 2001
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The fighting in Abkhazia has now almost ended. This week the armed group who were in the Kodori valley has moved away and things are returning to normal. In Sukhumi we have continued to work the crusher without any problems. We are processing soil at a site called the Lower Bridge in Sukhumi. There are two bridges over the Inguri river, one high bridge at the top end of the town and one low bridge close to our office and compound. Mines were laid around both bridges during the war and both have now cleared by HALO.
When HALO first came to Abkhazia the authorities gave us a map which showed where all the minefields were. The Lower Bridge was shown as clear because the Russian army were supposed to have cleared it shortly after the war. They had a tank fitted with special rollers which they would drive over the ground and then declare it clear. Unfortunately the rollers are too wide and not very effective. When HALO finally cleared the site we found fifty-two mines, most of them were in a trench which the rollers could not clear but some were found in open ground.
Even though the Russians cleared the area nobody really trusted it, in 1998 a horse was grazing on the area and stood on a mine which killed it, its body lay in the area for months until nothing remained except bones. After that we knew that we had to clear the ground properly and it was marked as dangerous, but last year two young girls were hurt at the minefield when they found an anti -personnel mine and, not knowing what it was one stood on it and they were both hurt. Everyone in Sukhumi was very shocked because the area had been signposted as dangerous and we thought everyone knew not to go there.
We started clearing the ground with manual teams but there was a lot of metal and the clearance was slow so we decided to use the mechanical team. They ripped up the top soil and put it in piles to wait for the crusher. The piles stood there for almost a year before the crusher finally arrived but now we have the crusher it is clearing the piles very quickly. We think the crusher will be here for one more week and then we will move it to a new site.
There have been mines at the lower bridge since 1993 but now it is safe once again. It used to be a popular spot for picnics and soon it will be again, but not until next year. The winter is now coming and the snow is settling on the high ground. The mountains above Sukhumi are
turning white and the cold wind is starting to rush down the valley. Our deminers have spent the last four years in the Gumista valley but this year they will be elsewhere, we have now cleared almost four thousand mines from the Gumista and it is finally safe. It is good to know that noone else will be hurt by landmines but many more remain and we will clear them, but it takes time and we hope that we get the mines before more children are hurt.
Ali Makhmatkhanov,
Crusher Field Officer
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