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SOUTH SUDAN / DEMINING
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / DEMINING
TRT: 2:54
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 17 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
9 SEPTEMBER, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Wide shot, Mangateen Community
2. Med shot, displaced families
16 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
3. Close up, 50 Kg Bomb
17 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Boulter, Programme Manager, UNMAS South Sudan:
“The key message is people should not touch any item. Simply report it. Let us go out. Let our teams go out and decide whether or not an item is dangerous. Let us deal with it. If people pick things up and bring them to us, they are taking unnecessary risk, not only to themselves, but to their family, friends, to their children and complete strangers. It’s simply not necessary.”
16 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
5. Wide shot, preparing bomb disposal
6. Close up, 50 Kg Bomb
17 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
7. Wide shot, completed bomb disposal work
8. Med shot, Shearer and UNMAS specialist in shelter
9. Various shots, control detonation
10. Various shots, Shearer and Boutler talking
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Boulter, Programme Manager, UNMAS South Sudan:
“Last year South Sudan passed the 5000 figure for people killed or injured which is a very sad day. The last mine accident in this country happened yesterday close to the junction when an innocent woman trod on a land mine and lost her foot. It’s a very real danger. It’s still out there and we are working hard to clear this threat.”
6 DECEMBER 2018, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
12. Wide shot, UNMAS presentation
13. Wide shot, UNMAS team walking through the village
14. Close up, unexploded ordinance
15. Wide shot, mine education
16. Close up, UNMAS poster
17 JANUARY 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
17. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“This is a routine job for UNMAS but it’s an incredibly important one right across South Sudan. As the war has continued over many, many years, there have been ordnances and this sort of ammunition that has been found that has causes all sorts of injuries and deaths to South Sudanese. So, the job that they are doing here today is a small part of what they do right across the country. So, we’re very pleased with the efforts and very proud of what they do to make people safe.”
6 DECEMBER 2018, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
18. Various shots, demonstration of explosive demolition
No one knows how this 50kg bomb, dropped from an aircraft years ago during the war for independence of South Sudan, suddenly appeared in an open field next to a football pitch and a nearby community of displaced families. But as soon as it was discovered, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) launched into action to defuse the bomb and safely remove it.
SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Boulter, Programme Manager, UNMAS South Sudan:
“The key message is people should not touch any item. Simply report it. Let us go out. Let our teams go out and decide whether or not an item is dangerous. Let us deal with it. If people pick things up and bring them to us, they are taking unnecessary risk, not only to themselves, but to their family, friends, to their children and complete strangers. It’s simply not necessary.”
Preparing the bomb for disposal is painstaking work. The team builds a structure containing 50 tons of sand around it to absorb fragments from a blast if it accidentally goes off. A special firing pin is attached to the bomb to disable the fuse so it cannot ignite. A cable is carefully laid out from the bomb shelter to the team managing the process from a safe distance. This time, the Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan has the task of pushing the detonation button.
The muted thud of the device being disarmed rather than a spectacular blast of the bomb going off is a sign of a job well done. In the next few weeks, UNMAS expects to dispose of the one millionth unexploded ordnance in South Sudan since 2004, including hand grenades, mortars, artillery rounds and land mines. These weapons have had a deadly impact on the local population.
SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Boulter, Programme Manager, UNMAS South Sudan:
“Last year South Sudan passed the 5000 figure for people killed or injured which is a very sad day. The last mine accident in this country happened yesterday close to the junction when an innocent woman trod on a land mine and lost her foot. It’s a very real danger. It’s still out there and we are working hard to clear this threat.”
UNMAS is an integral part of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). It surveys and clears mines, ammunition stockpiles and other unexploded ordnances, clears roads so humanitarian workers and local people can travel safely and educates local communities about the risks and how to report explosive hazards.
SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan:
“This is a routine job for UNMAS but it’s an incredibly important one right across South Sudan. As the war has continued over many, many years, there have been ordnances and this sort of ammunition that has been found that has causes all sorts of injuries and deaths to South Sudanese. So, the job that they are doing here today is a small part of what they do right across the country. So, we’re very pleased with the efforts and very proud of what they do to make people safe.”
UNMAS’ handling of the bomb caused huge community interest and prompted local police to come forward about a similar device that has been lying near their station for years and will now also be quickly and efficiently disposed of by the specialist mine action team.
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