23 July 2009, 20:00
Chechen MoE plans to form special teams for land demining
In the nearest ten days, the Chechen Republic is planning to set up special groups for demining farmlands. The respective decision was passed upon agreement with the Ministry of Emergencies (MoE) of Russia.
"At last, the problem of clearing the territory of our republic from land mines, fougasses, unexploded ammunition and other explosive objects starts to be addressed substantially. At the sitting held yesterday in North Ossetia and chaired by Sergey Shoigu, Russian Minister for Emergencies, a decision was made to set up, under the Republic's MoE, of special teams to be engaged in demining farmlands," the Chechen MoE has reported today.
The spokesman of the Ministry has noted that the offer to set up special MoE teams for farmland demining was made by Mr Shoigu himself.
"The territory of our republic needs the so-called 'all-over demining'. Until now, we have no reliable data about the count of hectares in need of clearing from explosive objects. The absence of maps of mine fields seriously complicates the whole work," said the source.
According to him, different sources assert that from 16 to 20 thousand hectares of land need demining. Presumably, Chechnya keeps at least 40 tons of unexploded matter in its land.
Author: Muslim Ibragimov Source: CK correspondent
