U.S. Affirms Continuous Support to UXO Settlement in Vietnam

The U.S. government will continue supporting the settlement of unexploded ordnance (UXO) which is left from the Vietnam War to help Vietnam better solve socio-economic problems and improve livelihood, according to Deputy Chief of Mission Susan Sutton. The U.S. side will finance programs on bomb disposal, especially activities conducted by Vietnam National Mine Action Center (VNMAC) and different localities across Vietnam, Ms. Sutton said in an interview with the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense’s mouthpiece Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper. Specific support would include measures, including building data on UXO to provide people a map of bomb and mine that help them avoid the contaminated areas, Ms. Sutton said after attending a recent training course on bomb disposal given to Vietnamese soldiers under the support of U.S. experts. The U.S. government pledged to intensify support to a bomb disposal program conducted by VNMAC for the 2016-2020 period basing on the results gained during 2010-2015, according to the diplomat. UXO remains one of issues which require the two countries’ efforts as more than 20% of Vietnam’s land is contaminated with bomb and mine left by the American troops in the Vietnam War. Domestic and foreign experts said that it will take Vietnam about 300 years to remove bomb and mine. Since the end of the war in 1975, more than 100,000 people in Vietnam killed and got injured by UXO. (www.qdnd.vn Aug 27)