Amman - The Norwegian government has redeployed the Compact 230 MINECAT in the Jordan Valley after successfully upgrading and testing the minesweeper for the Kingdom's de-mining mission. Norway donated the MINECAT to the Jordanian Royal Corps of Engineers (JRCE) two years ago under its ongoing support for the country's national mine clearing efforts.
The 7.9-tonne machine required an upgrade to bring it up to current specifications, including the installation of a new cooling system and a more advanced remote control mechanism. The Norwegians retracted it last year for the needed modifications by the UK-based Cleared Ground De-mining Ltd.
The agreement under which the upgrade was implemented includes training assistance and supervision of JRCE personnel for a period of one year at the cost of $700,000. The minesweeper has so far cleared 23,000 square metres of land since it was deployed a month ago.
The Norwegian-designed and manufactured Compact 230 MINECAT is a relatively small and lightweight mechanical de-mining machine. Mechanical de-mining reduces reliance on manual de-mining and hence the risk manual de-miners are exposed to. The machine can operate in a variety of soil types and terrains, be utilised on gradients up to 30 degrees and clears the ground to a minimum depth of 20 centimetres.
It has served positively for Jordanian de-miners who face an arduous mission of detecting and safely removing landmines from difficult areas such as the Jordan Valley. De-mining officials have in the past stressed the challenges they face daily in carrying out their mission, both in the sweltering heat of summer and the muddy terrain during winter.
The MINECAT has a proven track record in removing anti-personnel and anti-tank mines in other mine-affected countries such as Kosovo, Croatia, Iran and Lebanon. Norway may provide the JRCE with additional financial support to cover the machine's operational costs after an evaluation period of around six months.
Since 1996 and up until August last year, Jordan has received a total of $9.56 million in mine action assistance from Canada, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The US has provided $893,000, while Norway has donated a total of $190,677 which went to the Trauma Care Foundation for Mine Risk Education as well as the Landmine Survivor's Network (LSN) for victim assistance.
Canada provided Jordan with $50,000, which was issued by UNDP and the National Committee for De-mining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) to support the National De-mining Commission.
The Kingdom, which has never produced mines or used them since 1973, joined the global mission against landmines after signing the International Mine Ban Treaty in 1998. Under the convention, Jordan and 126 other signatories are banned from the stockpiling, production and/or transfer of anti-personnel landmines.
The latest official figures show that the Kingdom has so far cleared 191 minefields out of a total of 497 across its border with Syria, the Jordan Valley and Wadi Araba. They constitute 26 million square metres out of an original 60 million square metres, which is now deemed safe for use, according to the JRCE.
While committed to the removal of all landmines from its soil by 2009, the national mission has not been without challenges. The Kingdom has repeatedly stated that donations provided by global community did not sufficiently cover the needs of such a gargantuan de-mining task. Its latest appeal was made at the high-level gathering of mine experts and army officials at the Nairobi Mine Summit in November last year.
Norwegian Ambassador Sverre Stub, JRCE Director Brigadier General Salah Maaytah, NCDR Chairman HRH Prince Mired, as well as representatives from the Canadian and French embassies, the Delegation of the European Commission, LSN and NCDR attended a ceremony on Tuesday marking the official redeployment.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2005
