VUKOVAR VUKOVAR, Oct 27 (Hina) - The head of the Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR), Otto Jungwirt, on Monday received a cheque for 53,790 US dollars which should be used for removing mines from arable land in the Mitnica suburb of the
eastern Croatian town of Vukovar.
VUKOVAR, Oct 27 (Hina) - The head of the Croatian Mine Action Centre
(HCR), Otto Jungwirt, on Monday received a cheque for 53,790 US
dollars which should be used for removing mines from arable land in
the Mitnica suburb of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar. #L#
The donations were collected last year at a charitable event called
"The Night of Thousand Dinners" organised by the U.S. chamber of
commerce in Croatia. A part of the sum was given by the U.S.
Administration and Canada's Government.
Jungwirt told a news conference in Vukovar on Monday that in Croatia
there were some 1,630 square kilometres of land suspected of being
infested with mines, however, ten percent of that area is very
likely to be polluted with mines.
The president of the U.S chamber in Croatia, Tatjana Divjak, warned
that Croatia was among the six most mine-infested countries in the
world.
A political and economic advisor with the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb,
Nicholas Hill, told the conference that removal of mines for
humanitarian purposes remained one of the priorities of his
country's policy towards Croatia. Since 1998, Washington has
ensured $60 million for Croatia, Hill said, voicing hope that by
2010 Croatia would become a mine-free country.
On behalf of Diners Club Adriatic, the chief sponsor of "The Night
of Thousand Dinners", the company's CEO Zarko Kraljevic, said the
next charitable event of this kind was scheduled for 8 November in
Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb.
Present at the news conference in Vukovar were Canadian Ambassador
to Croatia, Dennis Snider, and Vukovar-Sirmium County Prefect,
Nikola Sefer.
(hina) ms