US donates trucks to aid SL Army’s humanitarian demining

The Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) this week received four trucks from the people of the United States, that will aid its demining efforts in the North and East.

Major General Ubaya Medawala and Brigadier General Udayantha Wijeratne received the donation at the American Embassy from US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Patricia Butenis.

Ambassador Butenis said, “These trucks will be used to transport your skilled and brave deminers to areas where they are needed most. The landmines scattered around the North and East of Sri Lanka have meant that families cannot return to their homes and livelihoods.”

“Thanks, however, to the efforts of the Sri Lankan Army and Sri Lankan and international demining organisations, large swaths of the North and East are now cleared of mines, and such dangers can be put to rest. There is still work to be done, and these trucks will help transport members of the demining unit to difficult-to-reach areas in order to perform their duties,” she added.

Army spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala noted that the Sri Lankan Army has now encountered a difficult stage in its demining programme as troops begin to enter terrains with constraints. “The Government has so far cleared 358,588 mines from a 3971-square kilometre area in the North. Only around 300 square kilometres of land remain to be cleared of mines, and once that is complete, the remaining people displaced by the war can be resettled,” he further said.

In 2010, the US Government donated five ambulances and four Toyota Hilux double cabs to the Sri Lanka Humanitarian Demining Unit. Since the summer of 2009, the US has contributed more than $10 million to fund, equip, and train the Sri Lankan Army and international humanitarian demining organisations.