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发帖数: 901 | 1 ..HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — More than 100,000 Vietnamese have been killed or
injured by land mines or other abandoned explosives since the Vietnam War
ended nearly 40 years ago, and clearing all of the country will take decades
more, officials said Monday.
"The war's painful legacy, which includes hundreds of thousands of tons of
bombs and unexploded ordnance, continues to cause painful casualties every
day," Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told a U.N.-sponsored conference on
ways to deal with the problem.
Dung said 42,132 people have been killed and 62,163 others wounded by land
mines, bombs and other explosives since the war ended in 1975. The United
States used about 16 million tons of bombs and ammunition while allied with
the former South Vietnam government, which was defeated by northern
communist fighters who reunified the country.
U.S. Ambassador David Shear told the conference that the United States has
provided $62 million to help Vietnam cope with "this painful legacy."
"Our efforts to help Vietnam deal with this difficult problem have helped
build the mutual trust and understanding between the U.S. and Vietnam that
has allowed our bilateral relationship to flourish," he said.
Bui Hong Linh, vice minister of labor, war invalids and social affairs, said
explosives remain on about 16 million acres (6.6 million hectares) of land,
or more than one-fifth of the country.
He said only 740,000 acres (300,000 hectares) or 5 percent of the
contaminated area has been cleared and a recently approved government plan
calls for clearance of an additional 1.2 million acres (500,000 hectares)
that would cost $595 million in the next five years.
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