3 landmine fields found in Kitgum
Mar 25, 2009
THE demining team in northern Uganda has found three landmine fields at Ngomoromo, Agoro and in Lamwaka hills in Kitgum district on the border with Sudan.
By Chris Ocowun
THE demining team in northern Uganda has found three landmine fields at Ngomoromo, Agoro and in Lamwaka hills in Kitgum district on the border with Sudan.
Last month, the team recovered five landmines from Ngomoromo. Mark Livingston, the senior technical adviser to the demining team disclosed this while briefing the Danish minister for development co-operation, Ulla Toernaes at the Danish De-mining Group offices in Gulu district on Saturday.
“We lack gadgets and protective gear to clear the minefields,†he added. Livinigston also complained of lack of machines and dogs to detect the landmines.
He said the minefields if not cleared would be dangerous because residents had started stealing the barbed wire fence that demarcated the fields. It is suspected that the mines were laid by the UPDF between 1999 and 2000, to prevent the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels from crossing into northern Uganda.
The Ngomoromo minefield is about 11km long and, Livingston said, clearing the three minefields could take about three years. The Danish De-mining Group complained to the minister that their stay in Uganda would end this year yet a lot of work needed to be done to clear the mines especially in the villages where former displaced people were returning.
“We are also carrying out mine risk education in schools and in the community. We advise them to mark areas with strange objects suspected to be explosives,†Livingston reported. No other minefield has been detected in Gulu, Pader or Amuru districts except the unexploded ordinances which are being found in people’s gardens and are being destroyed daily.
THE demining team in northern Uganda has found three landmine fields at Ngomoromo, Agoro and in Lamwaka hills in Kitgum district on the border with Sudan.
Last month, the team recovered five landmines from Ngomoromo. Mark Livingston, the senior technical adviser to the demining team disclosed this while briefing the Danish minister for development co-operation, Ulla Toernaes at the Danish De-mining Group offices in Gulu district on Saturday.
“We lack gadgets and protective gear to clear the minefields,†he added. Livinigston also complained of lack of machines and dogs to detect the landmines.
He said the minefields if not cleared would be dangerous because residents had started stealing the barbed wire fence that demarcated the fields. It is suspected that the mines were laid by the UPDF between 1999 and 2000, to prevent the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels from crossing into northern Uganda.
The Ngomoromo minefield is about 11km long and, Livingston said, clearing the three minefields could take about three years. The Danish De-mining Group complained to the minister that their stay in Uganda would end this year yet a lot of work needed to be done to clear the mines especially in the villages where former displaced people were returning.
“We are also carrying out mine risk education in schools and in the community. We advise them to mark areas with strange objects suspected to be explosives,†Livingston reported. No other minefield has been detected in Gulu, Pader or Amuru districts except the unexploded ordinances which are being found in people’s gardens and are being destroyed daily.