IRIN interview with mineclearance consultant

Angola has the dubious honour of being known as one of the most landmined countries in the world. However, estimates at to the actual number of mines laid in the Angolan conflict have differed markedly in recent years - from about 200,000 to as many as 15 million. HALO Trust mineclearance consultant David Frederick recently passed through Johannesburg and outlined the Trust’s objectives in the war-torn southern African country. QUESTION: What does the HALO Trust do? ANSWER: Our overall aim is to save lives, prevent injury to people as a result of mines and unexploded ordnance and to return land to the poorest and most needy people. Q: What specific objectives does the Trust have in Angola? A: Our objectives in Angola are to provide safe access to agricultural land to internally displaced persons and to local residents, to clear land so people can build homes and live on it, to remove mines which inhibit the work of aid agencies, to provide safe access to wells, sources of firewood, market places and other places frequented by people in the course of their lives. Q: How does the ongoing civil war in Angola affect the Trust’s demining activities? A: The effect of the war means we only have access to part of the country, and because many of the major roads aren’t safe, we are dependent on aircraft to facilitate our logistics. As regards limited access, we do what we can for the people in the areas we can reach. We don’t demine or clear areas of unexploded ordnance which we judge to be in danger of being remined as a result of the possibility of the land changing hands between government and rebel forces. Q: Several researchers have reported that government and rebel forces continue to lay mines and also to remine areas that have already been cleared. Has the Trust found evidence of this? A: We have no evidence of remining that is taking place. Since we have been able to return to some of our completed tasks in areas UNITA (rebels) took control of in December 1998, we have not found any of them to have been remined. Anti-tank mines have been laid on roads, but this may just as well be for commercial as for military reasons - for example bandits robbing trucks. We don’t think there are any minefields being laid. We think there is a possibility that combatants sometimes use fragmentation mines during the night to protect their positions and then remove them in the morning. Q: In which provinces of Angola does the Trust operate and how many people does it employ? A: We have 350 staff in Angola. Most of our work is in Huambo, Bie and Benguela. When we first came to Angola in December 1994, these were judged to be the provinces with the greatest need, where mines were causing the greatest humanitarian problems - chiefly in Huambo and Bie. Q: Estimates on the number of landmines in Angola differ markedly - between five and 15 million. What is the Trust’s feeling on this and why? A: The Trust estimates there are at least 200,000 landmines in Angola, one million at the very most. We believe the figures have been grossly exaggerated for a number of reasons - principally the lack of research and thorough investigation. HALO’s estimate is based upon the density of mine laying in the fields that have been cleared and the number of minefields estimated to be contained in Angola. Q: What progress has the Trust made and how much further do you have to go? A: We think we have cleared a third of the minefields in the central provinces and that we can complete clearance within five to eight years if the conditions are conducive. Q: How much does the Trust spend in Angola and where does it get its money from? A: Our budget for Angola every year is about US $1.6 million - most of which is spent on salaries. We train local staff so that they themselves can train others. Mainly administrative and senior staff benefit from the training programmes. Among our donors are the US Department of State, the Dutch government, the Irish government, the European Community and the Association to Aid Refugees, in partnership with the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Q: What equipment do you use to do your work efficiently? A: Well, we have 23 Land Rovers, 12 of which are used to transport staff to minefields. Five are used to provide mobility for the EOD [explosive ordnance disposal] and others are used for logistics and support. Regarding mineclearance itself, we use Ebinger metal detectors to locate mines. Mines which are found are destroyed with explosives. We employ mechanical methods to help clear the land more quickly and we use CASE loaders to dig up and remove contained soil. In contaminated [areas] only, because of the roads, we use Werewolf mine protected vehicles which drive through areas we think have antipersonnel mines in order to locate the mine concentrations so that manual deminers can be directed straight to the task. Q: Is there a particular type of characteristic you look for in a deminer? A: We aim to recruit people who are used to working on the land. They tend to make better deminers. The job itself is mundane, hard physical work, requiring patience and the observance of strict operating procedures. Q: Given that the ongoing war has restricted mineclearance in Angola, what does the HALO Trust plan to do when the war finally ends? A: Increase our capacity and finish the job.