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Kinmen deminers show tactics

The Army's "Demining Team" yesterday vowed to clear up before 2013 the 70,000 mines left on Kinmen.

"Everything is on track at the moment. I am confident that we can clean up the rest of the mines before the deadline," said Colonel Ku Chien-chin (古鑑今), the team's leader.

The team, part of the Army's Engineers Corp, was established on April 1. The team has 137 Army engineers, including 66 certified deminers. All de-mining personnel are required to participate in a six-week training course taught by international mine disposal experts.

The team has cleaned up two of the 153 minefields on Kinmen so far.

Team members wear an orange uniform similar to those worn by Air Force pilots, for safety reasons.

"Usually, landmines are buried in the jungle, in the bushes or in muddy areas. Wearing orange makes it easier for other people to see you when you're working in that kind of environment," Ku said.

Five landmine experts from Singaporean Explomo Technical Services -- which is under contract with the Army until November -- are serving as consultants to the team.

"We start very early in the morning, around 5am. We take a break at around 1pm since it usually gets very hot. We resume work at around 3pm or 4pm and call it a day when it gets dark. Our work is heavily dependent on weather conditions," said Lee Tuck-hume (李德謙), assistant project manager for the contract.

Lee is a former member of the Singaporean Navy's Underwater Demolition Unit. He was trained at the US Navy's school of Explosive Ordnance Disposal and served as a Singaporean Navy diver. He said that the demining team's job is extremely dangerous and most of its members spend long hours dealing with explosives that could kill them at anytime.

Team members yesterday demonstrated how they deal with the discovery of a landmine in a minefield and detonated two mines at the scene to show what happens when a mine explodes. Safety concerns meant that the observers had to watch from a blockhouse about 150m away from the detonation site. The detonation was broadcast on a closed-circuit video system.

Sergeant Chen Nien-chiang (陳年強), a career soldier and Kinmen native, said his parents supported him when he volunteered for the team.

"As a Kinmen native, I think it is my job to deliver a clean and safe Kinmen island to my fellow islanders. That is why I am here," he said.
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