U.S. DONATES $2 MILLION TO CLEAR LANDMINES

In a ceremony held in an area of active mine fields outside Maputo on October 15, Charge d’Affaires Todd Chapman presented HALO Trust, the largest mine clearance agency in the world, with a $2 million USAID grant for the clearance of landmines in Maputo, Manica, and Tete provinces.   The goal of the grant is to restore safe access to land and infrastructure for local populations.  It will be used to survey all villages across six districts of Maputo Province, to re-survey minefields in Maputo, Manica, and Tete, and finally to clear priority mined land in each of the three provinces. 

PAS Maputo arranged for all media outlets to report on the event.  Most newspapers in Maputo and all major television stations gave the ceremony, which took place near the line of pylons stretching from Maputo City to the South African border, extensive coverage.  Current estimates suggest that approximately 170 pylons are mined, to a range of 12 to 20 meters beyond each tower.   Following the presentation, HALO demining personnel demonstrated explosions of land mines near one of the pylons for the media. 

An estimated 175,000 mines were laid in Mozambique during its fight for independence (1964-1975) and throughout the civil war that followed.  All factions used mines to defend provincial and district towns, roads, airstrips, key bridges, power supply infrastructure and military posts. Although the civil war ended in the early 1990s, landmines and unexploded ordnance continued to claim lives and hinder development.

The United States has been contributing to demining efforts in Mozambique since the end of the civil war, and before this $2 million grant to HALO, had given more than $48 million for demining in the country.