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eAccording to the Resettlement Unit under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, 8 lakh 70 thousand 412 landmines have been cleared so far under the Government’s emergency demining program in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, more than 206 square kilometers of landmines have been removed and the said lands have been released for public use, the division said.
According to the resettlement department, nearly 15 square kilometers of landmines have to be removed.
Under the emergency demining programme, 870,412 conventional mines and 2,169 military anti-tank mines have been cleared so far.
Also, 3 lakh 65 thousand 403 unexploded military explosives, 11 lakh 84 thousand 823 bullets and other small arms have been found, the resettlement department said.
Land without landmines by 2026
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Sri Lanka has signed the Mine Ban Treaty with the United Nations. Accordingly, by June 2027, Sri Lanka should become a mine-free country.
In this situation, Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has said that “under the emergency demining program, Sri Lanka can be made a landmine-free country by the end of 2026.”
The resettlement department says that the demining program has been implemented throughout Sri Lanka since 2002.
The ‘National Mine Action Centre’, established in 2010, is responsible for co-ordinating, directing and monitoring demining agencies. The Sri Lankan Army contributes directly to this.
Currently, in addition to the Sri Lankan Army’s ‘Humanitarian Demining Unit’, two international non-governmental demining organizations and two local non-governmental demining organizations are engaged in demining operations in Sri Lanka.
The Government of Sri Lanka provides funding to the Sri Lankan Army’s Humanitarian Land Mine Action Unit for demining operations.
The Resettlement Unit reports that four other NGOs – receive US$17.5 million annually from international aid agencies.
Mines to be cleared
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The Resettlement Unit notes that the recovered landmines, explosives and other military explosives – are detonated and destroyed daily by the Army’s Ordnance Disposal Squad to prevent them from falling into civilian hands.
Meanwhile, the Resettlement Unit also informed that more than 3000 civilians in the Northern and Eastern Provinces have been given employment opportunities during the land mine clearance operation.
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