SISAK, Feb 19 (Hina) - The Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR) on Wednesday marked five years of very successful work and activity. On that occasion the president of the HCR Council, Labour and Welfare Minister Davorko Vidovic, said
that in the past five years suspect areas had been decreased from 13,000 to 1,630 square kilometres.
SISAK, Feb 19 (Hina) - The Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR) on
Wednesday marked five years of very successful work and activity.
On that occasion the president of the HCR Council, Labour and
Welfare Minister Davorko Vidovic, said that in the past five years
suspect areas had been decreased from 13,000 to 1,630 square
kilometres. #L#
Vidovic told a news conference that "the HCR in the past five years
has become the formula for good activity and grown into a
respectable institution which has been recognised on the
international scene as well-conceived, well-organised and well-
led". "As such the HCR is turning into a possible Croatian export
product when Croatia will no longer be faced with the problem of
mine fields."
Vidovic recalled that the number of companies working on de-mining
had grown in the past five years from three to 39.
More than 133 million euros has been spent on de-mining since 1998,
the head of HCR, Oto Jungwirth, said. Of that about 90.24 percent
has been ensured through the state budget, while 9.76 percent or
about EUR13 million has come from foreign loans or international
donations.
The largest donors to date have been the U.S. and the European Union
and their governments. He pointed out that about 600 employees
daily are involved in de-mining with about 27 machines and 300
metal-detectors and about 80 dogs.
(hina) sp/ha sb