Angola “must be free of mines” to develop ecotourism and agriculture and help diversify the economy in the Lobito Corridor, the head of a British NGO has said.
The chief executive of the Halo Trust, which bills itself as the world’s largest and oldest mine action organisation, was in Luanda and spoke with Lusa about the main challenges facing the development of the effort, including funding.
“We came to assess progress and encourage our partners and donors to continue funding our work,” Luse James Cowan said.
Operating in 30 countries, the Halo Trust made its mark in 1997 when Princess Diana travelled to Angola and walked through one of the minefields in Huambo to raise awareness of the problem around the world when she visited the same site.
Halo Trust has been operating in Angola since 1994 and has destroyed more than 118,000 landmines in over 1,050 minefields covering an area equivalent to 41 square kilometres, mostly in rural areas, currently operating in six of Angola’s 18 provinces: Luanda, Huambo, Bie, Namibe, Huila and Cuando Cubango.
The size of the country, along with funding, is another major challenge for the Halo Trust’s operations.
“This is a huge country with mines everywhere,” while in other countries such as Ukraine, Zimbabwe or Cambodia, mines are limited to certain areas, the head of the Halo Trust said.
“Our job is to clean up the whole country, but the problem of distances creates logistical problems, some places where we work, in the south-east of the country, in the Okavango region (Kubango River), are extremely remote, the roads are in poor condition, it is very demanding on the equipment and the teams themselves,” he stressed.
James Cowen also recalls that Angola has been through conflict for decades, first in a struggle for independence against the Portuguese and then in a long civil war in which it also faced foreign intervention from South Africa, Cuba and the Soviet Union, leaving the country strewn with different types of mines.
“This means that our staff must be technically very specialised, some of these mines are among the most dangerous in the world,” he said, stressing that demining is a priority for the Angolan government, which has invested heavily in the activity in recent years.
In 2019, the Halo Trust was awarded a $60 million contract for a five-year period ending next year, and is now seeking a new contract with increased funds and a longer term.
“If a country wants to diversify its economy, wants to rebuild agriculture, wants to build the Lobito corridor – which is not just a railway, it goes through populated areas – if it wants to invest in ecotourism and develop that potential, like Botswana, you can. We have no mines. Botswana has no mines. South Africa has no mines,” he said.
“If we don’t get rid of these mines, there will be no trust,” insisted the Halo Trust director.
The vast Lobito corridor, a railway that starts from the Lobito terminal and crosses Angola, stretching some 1,300 kilometers to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, crosses several minefields, according to the head of Halo, who identified these areas as a priority.
There are about a thousand minefields remaining across the country, and Halo focuses on areas where there is a concentration of population or economic need, making these areas safe for agricultural practices. Over the years, Halo has cleared more than 5,500 kilometers of national roads and employed about 1,600 Angolan workers in mine clearance teams.
Part of this workforce is women. There are about 900 women in the country, many of whom are responsible for their own households, able to support their families and have careers.
“It’s an investment in them and a benefit to their children,” says James Cowan, who says he is “very proud” of the women’s success.
“Sappers” are trained by Halo teams and learn to distinguish between different types of mines by assessing their proximity to the surface, age, and amount of metal using sophisticated detectors.
Halo is also investing in other types of more advanced technology, including robotic vehicles and drones, and even artificial intelligence to “scan” aerial and satellite images provided by drones.
“If we teach machines to detect mines, we can clear mines faster. We are focused on technologies that will make our systems faster and safer,” stressed James Cowan, pointing out that the risk of accidents is very low.
The biggest risk, he added, is not in clearing mines. Leaving a mine on the ground poses a risk to civilians and animal species, so much of Halo’s work involves providing what’s known as risk education and raising public awareness.
“We strive to have as few accidents as possible, they always happen, the last one was in May, fortunately no one died, but we try to learn lessons to understand what went wrong,” he said.
As for the mines, they are destroyed or used for demonstration purposes during exercises, after the explosives have been removed.
As for Halo, once the work is completed and local teams are demobilised, it also intends to leave workers with skills that will make them better qualified to find work in other sectors, such as drivers, mechanics, radio operators or information managers, James Cowan assured.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.