A humanitarian mine clearance project to remove anti-personnel mines and other explosive remnants of war has been mobilized with international technical support by the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) in a limited area of Kayin, or Karen, State.
The project uses a mechanical clearance machine, and a manual rake clearance system to clear explosive hazards from the ground. The machine pictured here cost about $5000 to construct, locally, from available materials. It can be used to clear most, but not all, antipersonnel mines found in the area.
The reach of the project has been to pilot clearance areas under the direction of the KNDO, with a newly formed and trained clearance team drawn from the KNDO. It is the first project of its kind to begin systematically clearing areas of antipersonnel mines and other explosive remnants of war to international standards within Myanmar/Burma.
A video introduction to the project can be found [here].