NE to be mine-free in three years – NMAC

Sri Lanka Director of the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC) and the Secretary to the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing W. S. Sathyananda has assured the international community that the ongoing mine clearing operations will reach a successful conclusion within three years.

The assurance has been given at the recently concluded 27th International Meeting of Mine Action National Directors and United Nations Advisers (NDM-UN27) held in Geneva from 29 April to 1 May, sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Representatives of 130 countries attended the conference. In addition to Sathyananda, NMAC’s Deputy V. Premachandiran represented Sri Lanka.

A statement issued by the Urban Development and Housing Ministry quoted Sathyananda as having told the Geneva conference that since the conclusion of the war approximately 3,000 square kms had been cleared and only 23 square kms remained to be cleared.

In addition to the Army, four international mine clearing groups, namely Hallo Trust, MAG, Sharp and Dash are engaged in the project. Sri Lanka brought the war to an end in May 2009.Sri Lanka receives the backing of Japan, Canada, Australia, the US, UK, Switzerland and Norway for mine clearing operations.