Africa-Press – Angola. The province of Benguela could be free of mines, “in known areas”, by next year (2024).
The known areas are those areas previously identified as being likely to be mined, as a result of the armed conflict that the country has experienced.
This information was provided to the press by AntoĢnio Catumbela Manuel, provincial representative of the National Mine Action Agency, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 2023/24 agricultural year, which took place in the municipality of Bocoio.
The official said that 5,262 anti-personnel mines, 98 anti-tank mines and 353,520 devices have already been removed across the province.
He made a point of indicating some places such as roads, where cleaning was carried out on 540 kilometers, on railway line 297, on high voltage transport lines 448, fiber optics on 358 and specific tasks on 27 km.
The official said that there are still four active areas in the province, without indicating them.
“Although the known areas are reducing, this does not mean that we are already free of mines”, he warned.
He took the opportunity to appeal to local administrations and traditional authorities to raise awareness among the population, due to the risk of artefacts existing in unidentified places.
The province of Benguela has a territorial extension of 39 thousand and 827 square kilometers and is divided into ten municipalities.
Its population is estimated at two million and 831 inhabitants (2014 Census).
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