The Japanese government on Wednesday agreed to provide the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) $833,000 towards an ongoing project that will see the group increase the management capacity of their operations.

The funding, which will be routed through the Japan Mine Action Service, will be used for the third phase of the “Capacity Building Project on Demining for CMAC”, and will increase the demining group’s ability to ensure quality control and management of their projects in Battambang province.

“Basically, we have strong capacity for technical skills [in demining activities], but we need more people to manage these operations,” CMAC director-general Heng Ratana said yesterday.

The project has so far trained “demining platoons”, and has helped clear 260 hectares of minefield in the province’s Banan district as part of the practical training.

Ratana said it was encouraging that the Japanese had continued to fund the project, which would help maintain their operations in the west of the country, which has seen some international donors pull out funding.