British firm to demine Sudan’s Darfur region
February 29, 2008 (LONDON) — The MineTech International is awarded three United Nations contracts for demining in Sudan among them one in the war-torn Darfur region, the British firm announced.
The MTI firm that uses specially bred dogs alongside hi-tech radar systems to detect and clear mines has won an important contract in Sudan. The firm which considered as world leader in mine clearing, will be paid 10 million (£5m) by the UN for work in Darfur and other war zones.
Two of the projects are in Darfur, the strife-torn province in the west of Sudan where conflict still rages. As well as clearing mines and explosives there, MineTech will run education projects to reduce casualties among local people.
Unexploded shells are a particular problem in Darfur because their bright colours and unusual shapes can have a fatal attraction to children.
MineTech teams will also be sent to Juba in southern Sudan and Kassala in the east, where landmines were planted during the civil war from 1983 to 2005.
The Sudan project is part of a 20m (£10m) international humanitarian initiative to clear the explosive remnants of 22 years of conflict.
The firm will be sending 115 specialist personnel to work on four projects in the country.
Mike Jaques, managing director at Exploration Logistics, said “Mines pose a significant threat to the people of Sudan causing death and injury.
MineTech develops its own mine clearance machines.
An armour-plated bulldozer scoops up mines at the same time as clearing soil and roots from battlefields. The heavyweight vehicle is robust enough to withstand the impact of any explosions set off during removal.
An alternative for harder terrain such as roads is a lighter vehicle which carries metal detectors or ground penetrating radar to locate mines.
Both machines will be used on Sudan’s project. MineTech will also be taking teams of detection dogs that find mines by recognising the smell of explosives.
The Gloucestershire firm was one of the first contracted for clearance work in Iraq in 2003 but was also awarded for contracts in Afghanistan and Lebanon.
(ST)