The event was attended by Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich, who is Politburo member, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission and permanent Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee of the National Mine Action Program (Program 504 in short).
Located on an area of 52,400 square meters, the project, with a total investment of VND 415 billion (US$18.6 million), includes a commanding office, an exhibition hall of post-war bomb and mine consequences, and accommodation for specialists.
According to Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich, in March 2014, the Prime Minister decided to set up the VNMAC amid the urgent demand for addressing unexploded ordnance (UXO) impacts.
The centre has worked closely with relevant ministries and localities, domestic and international organisations, and foreign embassies to perform its tasks. It has also coordinated with other agencies in designing and proposing UXO impact settlement policies and plans, he said at the inaugural ceremony.
He asked the VNMAC to boost international cooperation in order to call for foreign support, in addition to domestic resources, for Programme 504. It should also build a training programme on UXO detection and clearance while stepping up education about UXOs, especially for children in contaminated areas, so as to help Vietnam remove UXOs and avoid related accidents in the near future.
According to the State Steering Committee for Programme 504, about 800,000 tonnes of UXOs are scattered across 6.6 million hectares or 20.12 percent of Vietnam’s territory, mainly in the central region.
The US army used more than 15 million tonnes of bombs and mines during the war in Vietnam, four times the amount used in World War II. As a result, Vietnam has been listed among the countries most contaminated with UXOs.
