VIETNAM: The Ho Chi Minh Trail (2003)

Clearance on the Ho Chi Minh Trail

In 2003 MAG started operations in Quang Binh Province, north of the DMZ. Quang Binh contains large stretches of the famous Ho Chi Minh Trail. Many of the areas in Quang Binh were used as staging grounds or logistical bases for troops and equipment moving south. Consequently the area suffered heavy bombardment and is now highly contaminated with Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) as well as mines.

The famous Ho Chi Minh Trail was in fact a series of paths and tracks used during the 1960s and 1970s by the North Vietnamese to channel troops and equipment to fight South Vietnamese and US forces in the south of the country. It linked the supply lines from the north and into the southern provinces and the routes from the South China Sea into Laos. The area covered by the trail was one of the most heavily bombed stretches of land anywhere in the world.

To create new economic opportunities, and to re-house people affected by coastal flooding in the province, the provincial government is giving new land on higher ground to coastal dwellers. One such new village, covering a vast 250 acres (100 hectares), is Thach Ban (in the province of Quang Binh), which MAG is now clearing. The new village straddles the Trail.

Today, the new Ho Chi Minh Highway is being built along parts of the former 'Trail'.

MAG is working on this new area at the junction between route 16 in Quang Binh and the new Highway in order to make it safe for its new inhabitants. MAG trained 47 technical mine and UXO clearance staff, medics and plant machinery operators. Five members of the team are women. MAG has agreed together with the local authorities what the clearance depths will be according to the future land use, for example, 2-3 meters for areas where houses are to be built, but one meter for forestry land. This means resources can be used most effectively.

The site before (taken 03/03) …		and the village development plans…
		(Mark's finger is pointing to where the new clinic will be)

		The new highway of course attracts shopkeepers and restaurateurs to Thach Banh, who want to position themselves to take advantage of this new trade route. Phan Thi Ny runs the cafe at the junction of route 16 and the Highway, the most heavily bombed part of the trail. While clearing land for her smallholding she found what she thought was gold. It was the yellow/bronze casing of an unexploded BLU 3B bomblet, also known as a pineapple bomblet. She now knows not to touch bomblets and is glad that MAG will clear the area and make sure her land is safe for her and her three daughters.

A turpentine forest and collection point provides employment and income just next to the site