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His Excellency SOK AN
Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers,
First Vice President of Cambodian Mine Action Authority
at the
Signing Ceremony of the Grant Aid from the Government
of the Federal Republic of Germany
to support CMAC Demining in Siem Reap and
Oddar Meanchey provinces
Office of the Council of Ministers, 31
January 2008
-
Your Excellency Mr. Frank
MANN - Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of
Cambodia;
- Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is indeed a great
pleasure and honour for the Royal
Government of Cambodia as well as for
the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC)
to receive the Grant Aid from the
Government of the Federal Republic of
Germany. On behalf of the Royal
Government of Cambodia, I would like to
take this opportunity to sincerely
appreciate the continued assistance of
the Government of the Federal Republic
of Germany for mine clearance in
Cambodia. It has come to my knowledge
that the project, which costs 1,189,312
USD for a period of 12 months from
January to December 2008, has a main
objective to clear contaminated land of
260 hectares approved by the provincial
authorities for 2,500 families as direct
and indirect beneficiaries in Siem Reap
and Oddar Meanchey provinces.
As observed in the report
made by CMAC, the donation of the
Federal Republic of Germany to support
humanitarian demining in Siem Reap and
Oddar Meanchey has been increased from
less than one million US dollar to more
than one million US dollar a year since
2006. The Federal Republic of Germany
has contributed 6,884,137USD in
total from 1999 to 2007, excluding the
grant signed today. The considerable
results of this assistance could
include:
·
19,022,148 m² of
contaminated land has been cleared and
handed over to the local authority;
·
19,997 anti-personnel
mines have been located and destroyed,
·
211 anti-tank mines and
·
56,966 UXO.
The achievements provided
by German Grant Aid contribute grandly
to the development of Cambodia. It’s
important to note that the demolition of
one landmine or UXO could save one or
many lives, thus at least 77,174 lives
have been saved from maiming or death.
Furthermore, 9 ancient temples, 10
ancient bridges and other 8 historical
tourism sites have been released as mine
free. The project supported by the
Government of the Federal Republic of
Germany has saved not only the poor
people’s lives, but also supported
infrastructure development and tourism
sector, which is consistent with the
Cambodian Royal Government’s policy of
poverty alleviation strategy.
Beside
the humanitarian purpose, in Siem Reap
province, the project taken aims also to
preserve archeological temples and for
irrigation development which is a
project supported by an American
organization.
Excellencies, Ladies and
Gentlemen
Although the casually rate
dropped sharply, from an annual average
rate of 846, during 2000 to 2005, to 450
in year 2006 and continued its drop to
347 last year, over all landmine and UXO
still cause important problem for
Cambodia, especially to the people in
the remote areas and this is an
bottleneck of the development of the
country. Hence, the decrease in the
number of the casualties clearly
indicates the efforts of the Royal
Government under the effective
leadership of Samdech Akkak Moha
Senapadei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister
of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the efforts
of the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA),
of course last but not least the efforts
of all national and international
operators as well as development
partners. The Royal Government fully
recognizes that demining is not only
human security related issues but
demining also has significant economic
implication.
Taking this opportunity, I
would like to express my sincere thank
to Ambassador Frank MANN and
predecessors, and all colleagues of the
Embassy, who have always taken every
effort and commitment to support CMAC
demining activities.
On behalf of the Royal
Government of Cambodia, I would like to
express my profound gratitude to the
people and the government of the Federal
Republic of Germany for their strong
commitment and their continued support
to the people of Cambodia, and to CMAC
DU6 to combat the legacy of the scourge
of landmines and UXO left behind from
three decades of wars. I do hope, with
this generous support, vulnerable people
in the affected areas will be living
without fear of the threat of landmine
and UXO. They will gain back safe
cleared land for their new resettlement
and agricultural purpose to make way for
development of Cambodia.
Thanks for your
attention! |
