- Safety is always the top priority
02/04/2009 //
Due to the strict security routines of the Norwegian People's Aid mine and cluster removal programme, there have been no accidents among its staff. The NPA has four teams working with the removal of clusters in South Lebanon, providing valuable work and potentially saving hundreds of lives.
An ongoing civilian threat
The UN Mine Action Centre estimates that during the last days of the Israeli – Hezbollah war in July 2006, Israel dropped between 600 000 and 1,2 million cluster bombs in the South of Lebanon. As the failure rate of these weapons is high, many clusters landed without exploding. They were found everywhere immediately after the ceasefire, entangled in trees, in fields, on the streets, even in peoples homes. These unexploded ordnances (UXOs) are still a huge threat to the civilian population as they contaminate the land and function practically in the same ways as mines.
It is a slow process to remove and detonate the UXOs, especially in Lebanon’s uneven terrain. Now, after more than two years, the conditions on the ground have changed as the soil moves due to rain and seasonal changes. This means that the search teams have to dig deeper, working their way square meter by square meter.
NPA in Tibnine
Currently, the NPA is operating in Tibnine. The fields of Tibnine cover both flat land and rocky hillsides. NPA has three teams operating in the area. Each team consists of ten searchers, one section commander and one national site supervisor. A medical team is always present and the searchers have a comprehensive medical insurance.
If it rains, the work needs to be postponed as rain can disrupt concentration. Safety is the top priority. No casualties have occurred in the NPA teams, which is due to strict adherence to the security routines, according to Knut Furunes, programme manager in the NPA.
The teams can find from zero up to dozens of explosives during a day, which are all demolished by a technical supervisor.
Female de-miners
One of NPA's clearance teams is a purely female team, consisting of local women dedicated in making their villages and surrounding fields safe. NPA does not have problems recruiting the women, as the applicants are many. The searchers are well trained before they are let out in the field. The work is highly valued and recognized, and well paid compared to any other job in the area.
A lot achieved, a lot left
The Lebanese army was recently handed over the coordination from the UN , and now has the general supervision and administration of the clearance work. The army estimates it could take another two years to clear the whole country at today’s pace, but as funding is lacking it may still take some additional years to make Lebanon cluster free.
Various NGOs run a total of 26 clearance teams in Lebanon. UNIFIL also have teams, and the Lebanese Armed Forces do a lot of the work as well. Altogether there are 60 operational teams. According to Knut Furunes, NPA's main challenge is to maintain momentum, its focus on security and to make sure the donors don’t abandon the project.
When initial operational planning began after the war in 2006, it was estimated that there were about 32 million square meters of contaminated land in South Lebanon. The number has increased significantly as new strike locations are found. Now the Mine Action Coordination Centre South Lebanon estimates the contaminated area to be 48,1 million square meters. By the end of 2008, the MACC SL had coordinated the clearance and reduction of 42,5 million square meters of contaminated land in South Lebanon.
An international convention to prohibit the use of cluster ammunitions was signed by 100 countries in Oslo in December 2008.