I smell a rat...uh mine....
$10m demining project to send rats into Great Lakes
By WAIRAGALA WAKABI
Special Correspondent, THE EASTAFRICAN
Tanzanian-trained mine detection rats will be deployed in demining operations in the Great lakes region.
The rats have been tested according to International Mine Action Standards, officially accredited by the Mozambique Mine Action Centre. They are currently being used in minefields in Mozambique, one of the most mined countries in the world.
The Belgian humanitarian agency Apopo, in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Tanzanian Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF), have developed a vapour-detection technology that utilises the highly developed olfactory sense of the rats. The technology has enabled the rats to be trained in sensing mines, making for efficient and fast detection and removal of landmines.
The co-ordinator of the TPDF-Apopo project, Lt Col Charles Muzanila, said that regional experts meeting ahead of a heads of state summit in Nairobi later this year under the International Conference on the Great Lakes region had agreed in Angola last week to extend usage of the Tanzanian rats to regional demining initiatives.
The experts who attended the meeting organised by the African Union and the Office of the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative to the Great Lakes region approved a three-year project estimated to cost about $10 million to deploy the rats throughout the region. The experts were from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
The project is among several that the experts were considering for possible adoption under a pact heads of state will endorse during a summit in Nairobi in December. The pact aims at promoting joint economic development as well as peace and stability in the region.
Apopo had proposed to set up a combined Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) and survey team, which could be deployed in the region.
It said a personal digital assistant-based data collection survey would allow integration of the results in the International Information Management System for Mine Action database, which is essential for efficient mine action planning.
Lt. Col Muzanila said the landmine threat posed great risks to local populations, especially women and children, by denying them access to land for food production, pastures and collection of water and firewood.
Mined roads obstruct the supply of aid and relief goods to communities and hamper general trade and transport after civil wars, he said. Mines in border regions prevent the safe return of internally displaced people and refugees.
Under the REST technology that Apopo has developed, dust samples are collected from suspected minefield areas and taken to laboratories for evaluation by trained rats. The rats are able to detect minute explosive traces, and indicate areas that are contaminated with explosive devices such as mines and unexploded ordnance.
"The REST system provides additional information to traditional survey techniques, where suspected areas are mapped on the basis of military and civilian information, which is often subjective or unavailable. Clearly, a combination of both techniques provides a better demarcation of the mined areas," another Apopo official said.
Mine detection rats are used to indicate the exact positions of buried landmines. It takes a rat less than half an hour to search a 100 square metre surface.
Besides being used in demining, it is envisaged that the rats will also be employed in cargo screening and parcel checks at border points as well as in early detection of pulmonary tuberculosis among persons vulnerable to the HIV virus.
The REST system that is currently in use was developed for the detection of drugs and explosives in rail cargo, vehicles, trucks and houses before Apopo modified it for landmine detection.
...rats...such an underated animal..
By WAIRAGALA WAKABI
Special Correspondent, THE EASTAFRICAN
Tanzanian-trained mine detection rats will be deployed in demining operations in the Great lakes region.
The rats have been tested according to International Mine Action Standards, officially accredited by the Mozambique Mine Action Centre. They are currently being used in minefields in Mozambique, one of the most mined countries in the world.
The Belgian humanitarian agency Apopo, in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Tanzanian Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF), have developed a vapour-detection technology that utilises the highly developed olfactory sense of the rats. The technology has enabled the rats to be trained in sensing mines, making for efficient and fast detection and removal of landmines.
The co-ordinator of the TPDF-Apopo project, Lt Col Charles Muzanila, said that regional experts meeting ahead of a heads of state summit in Nairobi later this year under the International Conference on the Great Lakes region had agreed in Angola last week to extend usage of the Tanzanian rats to regional demining initiatives.
The experts who attended the meeting organised by the African Union and the Office of the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative to the Great Lakes region approved a three-year project estimated to cost about $10 million to deploy the rats throughout the region. The experts were from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
The project is among several that the experts were considering for possible adoption under a pact heads of state will endorse during a summit in Nairobi in December. The pact aims at promoting joint economic development as well as peace and stability in the region.
Apopo had proposed to set up a combined Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) and survey team, which could be deployed in the region.
It said a personal digital assistant-based data collection survey would allow integration of the results in the International Information Management System for Mine Action database, which is essential for efficient mine action planning.
Lt. Col Muzanila said the landmine threat posed great risks to local populations, especially women and children, by denying them access to land for food production, pastures and collection of water and firewood.
Mined roads obstruct the supply of aid and relief goods to communities and hamper general trade and transport after civil wars, he said. Mines in border regions prevent the safe return of internally displaced people and refugees.
Under the REST technology that Apopo has developed, dust samples are collected from suspected minefield areas and taken to laboratories for evaluation by trained rats. The rats are able to detect minute explosive traces, and indicate areas that are contaminated with explosive devices such as mines and unexploded ordnance.
"The REST system provides additional information to traditional survey techniques, where suspected areas are mapped on the basis of military and civilian information, which is often subjective or unavailable. Clearly, a combination of both techniques provides a better demarcation of the mined areas," another Apopo official said.
Mine detection rats are used to indicate the exact positions of buried landmines. It takes a rat less than half an hour to search a 100 square metre surface.
Besides being used in demining, it is envisaged that the rats will also be employed in cargo screening and parcel checks at border points as well as in early detection of pulmonary tuberculosis among persons vulnerable to the HIV virus.
The REST system that is currently in use was developed for the detection of drugs and explosives in rail cargo, vehicles, trucks and houses before Apopo modified it for landmine detection.
...rats...such an underated animal..
posted by Lee at 6:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home