The BiH Armed Forces Demining Battalion was given 54 protective vests, 300 visors, 3.000 pieces of batteries for detectors and 7 certified mine detection dogs. These funds for demining represent additional support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway as part of the plan to strengthen the capacity of the Norwegian People’s Aid to the BiH Armed Forces Demining Battalion.
Additional protection equipment and resources that are necessary for the smooth operation of the Demining Battalion of the BiH Armed Forces would enable the full engagement of the demining team, and increase their productivity.
The Head of the Norwegian People’s Aid in BiH Darvin Lisica said that this year the Norwegian People’s Aid would mark the 20 years of work in BiH.
“In the last 20 years, our help to BiH was devoted to building and assisting in refugee settlements during and after the war. We are dealing with humanitarian demining since 1996 in order to make the land reusable again for the population here. The Norwegian People’s Aid renovated and reconstructed 3.022 various facilities in this country after the war. Thus, accommodation for 6.300 families was ensured, and everything was financed by the government of the Kingdom of Norway’’, said Lisica.
A ceremony to hand over the demining equipment was attended by the Ambassador of Norway to BiH Vibeke Lilloe.
The Ambassador said that the Norwegian People’s Aid assistance to the Western Balkans gave more than 100 million KM for demining, and most of these funds was given to actions against mines in BiH.
“A large number of farmers from BiH still cannot safely tend to their land. It is not safe for our children to go to school. Unfortunately, sometimes it is necessary to overcome fear and people enter dangerous zones, and sometimes accidents happen due to mines’’, said Lilloe.
“This is why it is very important to continue with the removal of mines, and this has to be continued by the Demining Battalion of the Armed Forces and the Norwegian People’s Aid to gradually reduce the activity’’, added Lilloe.
BiH Minister of Defense Zekerijah Osmić said that the most amounts of help in strengthening capacity of the Demining Battalion was given by the Kingdom of Norway.
“The BiH Armed Forces wants to train the demining battalion to clean BIH of mines without help from the outside. The donations from Norway will help us with this. According to results until now, the contribution of the Armed Forces in the demining process has been 20 percent’’, said Osmić.
(Source: ekapija.com)
