Ly Thuch, first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistant Authority (CMAA ), visited a site where demining activity is underway on October 5 that was sponsored by the Samdech Techo Project for Mine Action.

He also met with deminers from the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC) and residents of Choam Krovean commune in Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district.

“Our mine clearance work in Tbong Khmum province under the Samdach Techo Project is 70 per cent complete after starting at the sites in July,” he said.

He added that the province's 70 per cent mine clearance was on a planned 4,687,317sqm, or the equivalent of about 90 average-size minefields, noting that 76 anti-personnel mines, 15 anti-tank mines and 1,080 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) have been found and destroyed in just a few months.

“This landmine clearance work comes from the government’s efforts to address the issue of landmines comprehensively through a national movement to completely eliminate landmines by 2025,” he said.

As one of the provinces most affected by landmines and ERW, Tbong Khmum is a priority for the Samdech Techo project, which has a goal of being able to declare it a mine-free province within six months after work began in July this year.