Sri Lanka Army’s ongoing demining work and mine risk education programmes received a heartening stimulus on Wednesday (3) when the UNICEF gifted vehicles, equipment and supplies, worth over Rs 30 million to the Ministry of Economic Development for acceleration of demining work and promotion of mine risk education.
The UNICEF donation, including four Toyota land cruisers, six motorbikes and a range of multi-media equipment, including lap top computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, TVs and DVD players, digital cameras and generators, was symbolically handed over to Mr Basil Rajapaksa, Hon Minister of Economic Development by Ms Desiree Jongsma, the representative for the UNICEF during a simple ceremony, held at Galle Face green this morning.
Mr Rajapaksa after acknowledging the mammoth UNICEF support symbolically handed over the keys of those vehicles in turn to the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya since it is the Army which is at the forefront of carrying out this most challenging project in the north and east as pioneers, amidst constraints and risks involved.
As part of the UNICEF support, the Humanitarian Deming Unit (HDU) was first established at the Ministry of Economic Development and trained 64 HDU staff before Mine Risk Education (MRE) programmes were launched in respective areas.
Mr Basil Rajapakse, Minister of Economic Development accepting the gesture of goodwill said that the UNICEF donation will certainly help expedite (MRE) activities and ensure zero-mine related casualties as the demining work intensifies. The Minister on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka thanked the UNICEF for its collaboration and generous support during his address to the occasion.
The Government, in collaboration with Sri Lanka Army Engineers has initiated a mine action programme in order to create a mine threat free Sri Lanka by 2020 after establishing the HDU at the Ministry of Economic Development.
Meanwhile, a UNICEF Press Release issued in this connection stated the following. Here are the excerpts;
“Mine Risk Education remains critical as communities rebuild their lives, both in the North and East of the country” said the UNICEF representative Ms Desiree Jongsma. “Through this important partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka, children and their families will be able to live, work and go to school in safety,” she said.
“Since the end of the conflict, nearly 280,000 people have returned to the North and East of the island. The need for continuous mine awareness programmes is integral to ensure their safety form land mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).
The National Mine Action Programme set up under the Ministry of Economic Development consists of five pillars; Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education, Victim Assistance, Advocacy and Stockpile destruction.”
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