"The works on clearing the landmines was stopped in June due to monsoon," said Bishnu Prasad Nepal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, who works as a focal point for mine action plan of the government. "The work is going to be restarted from October 25." [break]
The government has set a new deadline of June 2011 -- before the start of next year´s monsoon -- to defuse all the 53 landmines planted by the Nepal Army (NA) during the Maoist insurgency period.
Both the government and the UCPN (Maoist) had committed in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to defuse all landmines and other explosives used during the 1996-2006 Maoist insurgency period, within 60 days of the signing of the historic document on November 21, 2006.
"Four demining teams from the Nepal Army are being deployed at different landmines sites simultaneously so that the remaining landmines will be cleared by the set deadline," Nepal told Republica.
The UCPN (Maoist) claims it laid no landmine during the conflict period, though the party had used improvised explosive devices during the armed conflict that ended after the signing of the peace agreement.
When the demining operations were halted on June 30, the Nepal Army´s specially trained three teams, with support from the United Nations Mine Action Team (UNMAT), had cleared off 33 minefields.
A new demining team will also join the old mine clearance squads of the Nepal Army once the operations resume next week, according to the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry.
The Nepal Army, with the support of UNMAT, has trained 179 demining personnel, according to Mary Sack, program manager at UNMAT. International donors such as the UK, Australia and Switzerland have donated demining equipments to the national army, said Sack.
International community through the United Nations has invested over $ 6 million for mine clearance in Nepal, according to Robert Piper, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal. This figure excludes the cost of the labor contributed by the Nepal Army.
In the meantime, the government has prepared a national standard for management of landmines, aimed at ensuring that the landmine clearance works meet international norms, according to Joint Secretary Nepal.
In addition, the ministry has also readied a three-year strategy for mine action which comprises clearance of landmines, mine risk education, advocacy for mine-threat-free society, assistance to mine victims and destroying stockpiles of mines.
According to Nepal, Nepal Peace Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund managed by the government, has approved a project worth Rs 22.60 million to carry out mine action programs.
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