PHNOM PENH, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia needs 377 million U.S. dollars to clear all types of landmines, cluster munitions, and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) in the kingdom by 2025, a senior official said on Thursday.
Speaking at a mine conference here, Ly Thuch, first vice president of Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA), said since 1992 to date, the country had cleared 1,900 square kilometers of landmines, cluster munitions and ERWs, benefiting more than 5.3 million people.
He said some 1.07 million anti-personnel mines, 25,158 anti-tank mines, and 2.81 million items of ERWs were found and destroyed during the period.
Yet, another 2,000 square kilometers of the contaminated land still need to be cleared in the next six years, Thuch said.
"Cambodia is aiming to address all its landmine contamination by 2025," he said. "To achieve this, we projected an overall budget of 377 million U.S. dollars."
"If the required funds are attainable and the Royal Cambodian Army is fully involved in the humanitarian demining as we intended, the 2025 mine-free target is a dream comes true," Thuch said.
Regional and internal conflicts from the 1960s to late 1998 had left Cambodia as one of the most mine and ERW affected countries in the world. An estimated 4-6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from the almost three decades of war.
According to the CMAA's latest report, landmines, cluster munitions and ERWs had killed 19,779 people and either injured or amputated 45,070 others from 1979 to October 2019.
