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FROM THE FIELD

Unexploded ordnance found in organic nursery

15 Feb 2007 07:52:28 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)

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This World Vision nursery, in Bint Jbeil, is currently infected with many UXOs and cluster bombs, making it inaccessible to farmers.
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org

Land mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) discovered in a World Vision Lebanon nursery last week highlight the ongoing danger that munitions pose to residents in the south of the country.

"We are advocating to have the UXO cleared as soon as possible so that farmers can get back to work and we can get this program functioning fully again," said national director Bruce Menser.

About 34 farmers enrolled in World Vision Lebanon's agriculture program have been unable to return to work as a result of cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance in the Bent Jbeil area. A security review is being carried out to evaluate when the program may be allowed to resume.

The UXO were found in and around a nursery used to test for improved varieties of organic compost for World Vision Lebanon's SABIL organic agriculture project, while the building was being inspected for damage. During the war the centre was hit with a weapon which melted irrigation pipes and nylon and burned crops.

The facility has been declared off limits and the location of the mines has been marked. World Vision Lebanon is working with UN de-mining agencies to have this and other locations in the south cleared.

Estimates suggest that as many as four million cluster bombs were fired into south Lebanon by the Israeli military, most of those in the last three days of the war. More than a quarter of those may not have detonated and continue to threaten residents. Since the cease-fire, UXO has killed 26 people and injured 200 more, including 45 children.

The Sustainable Agri-Business Initiative in Lebanon (SABIL), is a two-year program funded by USAID that is developing the organic agriculture sector in Lebanon.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Wed Feb 21 12:45:40 2007