[Photos] The Bomb Recyclers Of Quảng Trị

Quảng Trị holds the terrible honor of being the most contaminated province in Vietnam when it comes to unexploded ordinance left over from the American War.

A final report from the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN) of the Ministry of Defense, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) found that 83.3% of land in Quảng Trị is affected by explosive remnants of war and landmines.

Since 1975, 7,081 residents of the Province have been killed or injured by said explosives. Many of the victims are poor scrap metal sellers who handle and dispose of ordinance without any training.

VN Express recently traveled to Quảng Trị and found that a new disposal program, RENEW, is helping to address these accidents.

RENEW reported that the number of bomb recycling households in the area have decreased from 27 to 7 and that those which continue to do so (making VND100,000 – VND150,000 per day) are provided with training and underground concrete “bomb boxes” to store bombshells until they are processed.

While it’s great to see steps being take to address this deadly issue, disposing of unexploded ordnance remains a massive challenge for Vietnam.

Pham Quang Xuan, deputy head of the Steering Committee for the National Action Program on Settling Consequences of UXOs said earlier this year that 800,000 tons of bombs, mines and other explosive weapons are buried across Vietnam, only 3.26% of which have been cleared since clean-up began decades ago.

At the current pace, it may take up to 300 years to rid Vietnam of this curse.