Senior Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and member of Steering Committee 504, chaired the meeting.

leftcenterrightdel
 At the meeting
According to reports from the Engineering Arm on the unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by the wars in Vietnam and the results of the implementation of the project “Surveying and Drawing a Map of Nationwide UXO Contamination,” UXO still exists in all 63 provinces and cities. Of these, 15 provinces still have large UXO-contaminated areas, with Quang Tri province being the most UXO-polluted one.

The types of UXO mentioned include bombs of various kinds, shells, mortars, mines, ammunition and other explosives. The existence of UXO across the country has had a negative psychological and economical impact on the local population, and it has raised the cost of construction due to the extra expenses of UXO clearing activities.

Concluding the conference, General Minh highly acknowledged the careful preparation for the meeting by the Standing Office of Steering Committee 504, and recognized the delegates’ good ideas and opinions.

He stressed that the continued existence of the UXO is a big issue, affecting people’s lives and every aspect of the society, as well as the country’s development. Releasing the post-war UXO situation in Vietnam will make much sense as this will serve as a basis for the country to call on the international community to provide assistance, as well as to promote social consensus on the implementation of the program on overcoming the aftermath of the wars in Vietnam.

The Standing Office of Steering Committee 504 was tasked to take note of the ideas and opinions presented for submission to the Prime Minister for approval to make an official announcement of the current UXO situation. This will also step up the implementation of UXO clearing projects, contributing to improving the socio-economic development of the local communities and the country as a whole.

Translated by Thu Nguyen