Sinhala Govt does not want to resettle the remaining Tamil 87,000 IDPs until the demining process is completed.! But HSZ/SOZ MUST BE DISMANTLE NOW.!!!

Swiss Foundation teams retrieve 4,589 mines
by Harischandra Gunaratna
in Periyathampanai


The Government does not want to resettle the remaining 87,000 IDPs in until the demining process is completed.

Six demining teams are now operating with the Army deminers in areas where the IDPs are to be resettled.

One of these teams involved in the demining in the Vavuniya area is the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), a voluntary organisation operating in Sri Lanka since 2002 in Mannar (Rice Bowl area and Madhu) , Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Having finished demining in the Rice Bowl area the FSD had moved to Periyathampanai and Periyapannivichchan in Vavuniya.

The Island met the Technical Field Manager of the FDS, Major K. Raju, formerly of the Indian Army. He is an expert on explosives.

Major Raju said the FSD had been able to clear 100,000 Sq metres in the Pannivirichchan area, where already 152 families were resettled and 200,000 sq metres in Periyathampanai. "We were able to remove as many as 4,589 anti personnel mines during this year along with 12 anti-tank mines," he said.

Demining was proceeding at a slow pace because of the difficult terrain covered with thick jungle, he said.

"Prior to demining we have to clear the thick undergrowth," Raju said, "the LTTE has not laid the mines systematically." He said that in some places the LTTE had planted mines in such a way as to cause multiple explosions.

"Once we recovered 180 mines laid by the LTTE around a house in the Rice Bowl area to trap the soldiers," he said.

Major Raju said self-styled LTTE Major Ilavaluthi was the inventor of surface and the Jhonny mines which had caused a serious threat to the armed forces.

LTTE mines weighed between 60 grams and 100 grams, whereas an ordinary mine is about 30 grams, he explained.

Most of the LTTE mines were still in good condition and usually they had been laid about 10 cm below the surface, Raju said.

FDS personnel were engaged in demining both manually and with the use of sophisticated machines in that area and they could cover an area of only 15-20 Sq metres a day manually but with the Croatian assembled machine 7,000 sq metres could be covered in a day, Major Raju said.

The machine MV 4 Mini Flail, introduced to Sri Lanka in 2003, has been quite useful as it ideally suites the Sri Lankan terrain and conditions. The cost of this machine is US$ 300,000.

The trailer of the machine which is remote controlled rotates at such an amazing speed of 900 RPM and the pressure it gives crushes any object on ground including mines, he said.

The operator usually stands about 50 metres behind the machine he explained.

It cost the FSD around US$ 3 per sq metre to clear areas and the project was funded jointly by US, Japan, Australia, Switzeland and IOM, Raju said.


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