What are regulations on the clearance of land for onshore mine clearance activities in Vietnam?

What are regulations on the clearance of land for onshore mine clearance activities in Vietnam? - image from internet

Article 19 of the Technical Procedure for Investigation, Survey, and Demolition of Explosive Ordnance, issued together with Circular 121/2021/TT-BQP (effective from November 5, 2021), regulates the clearance of land in onshore mine clearance activities as follows:

1. Work content:

a) Clear away climbing plants, weeds, trees with a diameter of 10 cm or less (the remaining tree stump should not exceed 5 cm in height). Trees with a diameter larger than 10 cm should only be cut and removed if there is a signal indicating the need for clearance below the tree stump.

b) Remove all obstacles from the entire area to be cleared, keeping them outside the scope of the mine clearance work.

c) Inspect and clean ground signals.

2. Manual land clearance in minefields:

a) Applicable in areas that are remnants of minefields after the war or newly arranged minefields.

b) Equipment includes personal protective equipment, cutting tools, hand tools, mine detection equipment, mine detectors, marking stakes, signs, knives, and pruning shears.

c) Execution procedure:

- Implement safety measures based on landmarks and safety corridors, and deploy the clearance team.

- Clear the land simultaneously with detecting mines to a depth of 0.07 m, following the technical requirements, and move obstacles away from the mine clearance area within the same day.

3. Manual land clearance in non-minefield areas:

a) Applicable in areas where explosive ordnance needs to be cleared in various types of terrain.

b) Equipment includes personal protective equipment, grass-cutting machines, cutting tools, hand tools, mine detection equipment, marking stakes, and signs.

c) Execution procedure:

- Divide the area into smaller sections with stakes, with dimensions of approximately (25x25) m or (50x50) m, depending on the terrain (length 25 m or 50 m, width depending on the width of the mine clearance area).

- Clear the land of trees according to the technical requirements, and remove obstacles from the mine clearance area within each section on the same day.

4. Manual land clearance combined with burning using gasoline or oil:

a) Applicable in areas with or without minefields but with many trees and climbing plants, as permitted by the authorized forest management agency.

b) Equipment includes personal protective equipment, cutting tools, hand tools, mine detection equipment, marking stakes, signs, gasoline, oil, and spraying equipment.

c) Execution procedure:

- Clear trees and climbing plants, open paths with a width of 2 m to 4 m, divide the area into smaller sections with dimensions of (25x25) m or (50x50) m, depending on the terrain (length 25 m or 50 m, width depending on the width of the mine clearance area).

- Spray gasoline or oil to burn the trees and climbing plants within each section at the appropriate time.
Clear trees and obstacles from the mine clearance area within each section (simultaneously with the mine clearance step to a depth of 0.07 m or 0.3 m at the same standing point).

5. Manual land clearance combined with explosives:

a) Applicable in minefield areas with dangerous barbed wire fences, as authorized.

b) Main equipment and materials include personal protective equipment, cutting tools, hand tools, mine detection equipment, marking stakes, signs, explosives, igniters, explosive gases, and other materials.

c) Execution procedure:

- Use long explosives to demolish the fences or dangerous areas, open access roads with a width of 2 m to 4 m, divide the area into smaller sections with dimensions of (25 m x 25 m) or (50 m x 50 m) depending on the terrain (length 25 m or 50 m, width depending on the width of the mine clearance area).

- Clear trees and obstacles from the mine clearance area within each section (simultaneously with the mine clearance step to a depth of 0.07 m or 0.3 m at the same standing point, for minefield areas).

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