ZAGREB AT END OF JUNE ZAGREB, April 8 (Hina) - Zagreb is to host the second regional conference on land mines from 27 to 29 June. The aims of the conference is to warn the public of dangers constituted by land mines, to help victims
and present Croatia as a country which has done much in the mine removal. According to some estimates, there are still up to 1.2 million mines planted at about 6,000 square kilometres of Croatian territory, said a vice president of the Croatian National Parliament, Jadranka Kosor, at a news conference on Thursday. She stressed that all tourist destinations and roads toward them were completely safe and secure. The head of the Croatian Mine Clearance Centre, Damir Gorseta spoke of a part of the conference referring to expert issues. How mines can be destroyed will be shown at the military testing grounds in Slunj, central Croatia, and participants will be acquainted with Croatia's experience fr
ZAGREB, April 8 (Hina) - Zagreb is to host the second regional
conference on land mines from 27 to 29 June. The aims of the
conference is to warn the public of dangers constituted by land
mines, to help victims and present Croatia as a country which has
done much in the mine removal.
According to some estimates, there are still up to 1.2 million mines
planted at about 6,000 square kilometres of Croatian territory,
said a vice president of the Croatian National Parliament, Jadranka
Kosor, at a news conference on Thursday.
She stressed that all tourist destinations and roads toward them
were completely safe and secure.
The head of the Croatian Mine Clearance Centre, Damir Gorseta spoke
of a part of the conference referring to expert issues. How mines
can be destroyed will be shown at the military testing grounds in
Slunj, central Croatia, and participants will be acquainted with
Croatia's experience from the Homeland War. The goal is to show that
land mines are not a serious obstacle in the military sense, but
they are a great threat to the normalisation of the life in the wake
of the war, Gorseta told reporters.
He added that in some cases the removal of mines may take up to 20
years. Croatia, where 14.3 square kilometres were cleared of mines
last year, will need about ten years for solving most of problems
regarding this issue, thanks to usage of the state-of-the-art
technology, Gorseta said.
He stressed that Croatia had sufficient human resources and
knowledge for the conduct of the programme for mine clearance, but
financial means are a restricting factor.
The Zagreb conference will be a chance to discuss problems of people
who sustained injuries in explosion of land mines. In Croatia,
estimated 1,200 people were wounded in such blasts, and 500 of them
have become invalids, said a representatives of the association of
the physically disabled persons, Mirjana Dobranovic.
The Zagreb event is to draw about 250 participants from a score
countries and representatives of many international
organisations. The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)
President, Cornelio Somaruga, and a winner of the Nobel Prize for
Peace, Jodie Williams are expected to come to the conference.
(hina) jn ms