Sri Lanka has imported equipment to speed up mine clearing in the former war zone in the island's north, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
The mine-clearing machines imported from Slovakia would be used to accelerate resettlement of people driven out of the area during the height of fighting, the ministry said in a statement.
Sri Lanka's army and eight other organisations were involved in removing thousands of mines, but most of the work was done manually, K. Kumarasiri, secretary to the Nation Building Ministry, told AFP.
"Only 10 square metres (about 100 square feet) can be de-mined daily (by one mine clearer) through manual work," added Major General D.M.D. Alwis, coordinator of the Sri Lanka Humanitarian Demining Project.
"But these machines can clear 5,000 square metres," he said. Read more ...
Photo Caption: Five Bozena Flail machines costing Sri Lanka Rs. 250m bought from Slovakia to remove land mines buried in the North and East arrived in the island on a special Chinese Airways airline yesterday. They were handed over to the Sri Lanka Army at the Airport by Ministers Sarath Gunaratne and Rishard Bathiudeen. Picture by Saman Sri Wedage. Source: Daily News
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