A EUR 3.9 million mine clearance project in the inundation area of the Drava river in the eastern Croatian municipalities of Jagodnjak, Darda and Petrijevci has been completed and another demining project, valued at 40 million euros, is to start next year in a wooded area in the Danube-Drava region, it was said during a presentation of the two projects on Wednesday.
The completed project covered 3.9 square kilometres of land and was finished in 63 workdays, said the assistant director of the Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR), Tomislav Ban, adding that the project was financially supported from the EU fund IPA 2001. The project involved 370 bomb disposal experts who removed 246 anti-tank mines, 168 anti-personnel mines and 328 pieces of unexploded ordnance.
The head of the government's Demining Office, Diana Plestina, said that a feasibility study was being prepared for the EUR 40 million project Naturavita, adding that the project was expected to be completed in nine months.
The HCR said that 461 square kilometres of land in ten counties remained infested with an estimated 50,000 mines left over from the 1991-1995 war. About 500 square kilometres of land has been cleared of mines to date, which cost 4.5 billion kuna; more than 68,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines and 114,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been removed.
(Hina) vm
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