United Methodists Assist Landmine Removal in Mozambique

Date: November 26, 2002

Land in Mozambique is being cleared of vegetation this fall to allow for the removal of landmines under a program sponsored by the United Methodist Committee on Relief and its parent agency, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The board signed a formal agreement with Mine-Tech on Sept. 2 to provide an Agriflail machine and a team of trained individuals from Zimbabwe to work in the Accelerated Demining Program in southern Mozambique. Originally a project of the U.N. Development Program, ADP is a national program of the Mozambican government.

The machine, operated by the team, is being used to clear away heavy grass, small trees and other objects in identified mine fields, according to Theodore Warnock, a United Methodist missionary assigned to the project. The machine also will detonate "a significant number" of active anti-personnel landmines as it clears the area, he added.

Such work is needed in the African nation where landmines dot the countryside. "By most estimates, there are probably still 500,000 mines left in Mozambique," Warnock told United Methodist News Service in a Nov. 25 interview.

The Agriflail team cleared 69,362 square meters of vegetation in the Inhambane Province, about two hours north of Maputo, the capital city, between mid-September and Nov. 24. The contract with Mine-Tech guarantees a number of hours per week with the machine, which is carried over to the next week if weather or other factors prevent that goal from being achieved. Without the machine, which costs $20,000 per month to operate and maintain, the work of clearing the land by trained personnel is much more painstaking and dangerous, he explained.

Once the vegetation is removed, the land must be manually checked and cleared with advanced metal detectors and mine detection dogs. Warnock said the Board of Global Ministries has an agreement with RONCO, a U.S.-based corporation, to purchase seven trained dogs and provide them to ADP. Currently being trained in Zimbabwe, the dogs are expected to arrive in Mozambique in early January. They will receive additional training with human partners from the demining team.

The dogs are released into a one-meter section and can smell the TNT explosive in the soil. If any item is suspected, human deminers use metal detectors to verify the potential mine and remove it. If a mine detection dog determines that the section is clear of mines, it is marked and re-checked by a different dog the next day. When both dogs clear the site, it is deemed safe.

Warnock said none of the detection dogs used in Mozambique since 1996 have been lost because of a mine-related injury. But their ability to smell the TNT evaporates as temperatures rise, so the dogs and their handlers do their work very early in the day, often as soon as it is light enough. "Moister weather actually helps the dogs," he added.

The cost of the seven dogs, including transportation, training and retraining for them and their handlers, and veterinary services was about $300,000, but that one-time expense allows them to work in the fields for seven or more years, according to Warnock. The missionary, who is based in Atlanta, expects to return to Mozambique in the spring to evaluate the program's progress.

Directors of the Board of Global Ministries voted two years ago to commit $1 million to the Mozambique project, with the goal of removing landmines from church-owned property as well as at least an equal number of acres of other land.

Contributions can be made to UMCOR Advance #982575, Landmine Removal. Give through your local United Methodist church or send contributions to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Call 1-800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation. One hundred percent of your gift goes to this emergency. The generous giving of United Methodists to the One Great Hour of Sharing supplements the cost of Advance gifts.

Source: United Methodist News Service.

Photos: 1. The Agriflail clears away heavy grass, small trees and other objects in identified mine fields. Machines only assist in the effort; they don't replacement workers and dogs who risk their lives to remove the mines that machines locate. 2. Use of mine sniffing dogs is essential to ensure that the area is free of landmines. This is the last step in the demining process. If the dogs find nothing (after two different dogs have been over the contaminated area on different days), the area is deemed safe. Credit: Ted Warnock, GBGM. Click on any photo to see a larger version.