Annual Report 2010 - Ministry of Finance and Planning

1 | DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVESBox 1.2Towards a Mine Free Sri LankaThe end of the 26 years long terrorist insurgency in theNorth in May 2009 provided a long awaited opportunityfor Sri Lanka to enjoy peace. However, the immediatechallenge at the end of the conflict was the creation ofa mine free environment in the former conflict affectedareas particularly in Kilinochchi and Mannar, which werecontaminated with 1.3 million (estimated) land mines,unexploded ordinances (UXOs) and improvised explosivesdevices (IEDs). It has been identified that over 640villages are affected by these mines. It is estimated thatthere are over one million (estimated 1.3 million to beunearthed) landmines in the North and East ofSri Lanka. 1Soon after the ending of the conflict, the existence oflandmines became an impediment in the resettlement ofpeople in their communities of origin and implementationof development activities in the conflict affected areas.Hence, de-mining turned out to be a major priority of theGovernment to overcome this obstacle. Consequently, ahumanitarian de-mining programme has been initiated bythe Government to clear the respective areas and createan environment free of mine and explosive remnants ofwar (ERW) 2 .Sri Lanka has made a steady progress in de-miningactivity and resettlement of internally displaced people(IDPs). During the period from 01 January 2009 to 31December 2010, a total of 444 km 2 has been cleared.The areas so cleared have been released for livelihooddevelopment activities. With these initiatives, out of295,136 IDPs in the North, almost the entirety has beenresettled and only 17,785 persons (6 percent) remainedto be resettled by April 2011 thus indicating a remarkableprogress in resettling IDPs compared to such programmesin other countries.According to the information available as at 31st March2011, about 494km 2 remain to be cleared 3 . In order to clearthe entire land of the North and East, the current level ofde-mining will have to be maintained for about next tenyears 4 . Hence, the target is to achieve a mine free SriLanka by the end of 2020, which will need enhancedhuman, financial and physical resources. In this process,priority has been given to residential areas of villagesthat are identified for resettlement and livelihoodareas which are in close proximity to settlements in theminefield clearance operations.At present, the mine action activities are implementedby the Government through the Sri Lanka National MineAction Centre (SLNMAC) that has been setup at theMinistry of Economic Development (MED) to coordinateand fast track the de-mining process. The NationalSteering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA) actsas the decision making body on mine action throughSLNMAC in collaboration with respective institutions andagents.The de-mining operations, which is a high cost, high risk,time consuming as well as painstaking process, at theground level are led by the Humanitarian De-mining Unit(HDU) of the Sri Lanka Army and participated by eightother local and foreign mine action operators 5 .The Government has spent about Rs. 1.4 billion in 2010in de-mining activities implemented after liberation ofthe whole country from terrorist activities, especially inthe procurement of much needed equipment for mineclearance activities and maintenance of demining cadreas well. Australia, United States, Japan, China, Indiaand international institutions such as, United Nations1 Strategy paper ‘The National Strategy for Mine Action in Sri Lanka’, Ministry of Economic Development.2 A large-scale mine action programme has been undertaken by the Government and the international community in the North and Eastsince 2002. The survey and clearance work, mine risk education, victim assistance, stockpile destruction and advocacy are the five pillarsof the mine action programme in Sri Lanka.3 The Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA)4 National Strategy for Mine Action in Sri Lanka, 20105 They are the HALO Trust, Danish Demining Group, Foundation Suisse de Déminage, MAG (Mines Advisory Group), Sarvatra, Horizon,Milinda Moragoda Institute for Peoples’ Empowerment and Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony.38