HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has instructed the concerned ministries to adopt urgent measures to prevent and limit accidents caused by bombs and mines left over from the resistance war.

The Prime Minister asked the National Steering Committee for the National Action Programme on overcoming the aftermath of bombs and mines left behind after the war (often called Committee 504) to act as consultants for the ministries on amending and supplementing laws related to national management of the issue.

The Ministry of National Defence must consolidate the forces responsible for disarming bombs and mines.

The Ministry of Public Security should strengthen its inspections and apply strict penalties against residents caught illegally storing, trading, sawing and using bombs and mines. The ministry should prepare enough manpower and equipment to receive, collect and destroy bombs and mines, based on current regulations.

The Ministry of Information and Communications; Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Vietnam Television; and Radio of Vietnam, as well as the Vietnam News Agency and the rest of the media should raise awareness of the issue.

PM Phúc asked the ministries, organisations and people’s committees to establish and operate programmes to overcome the aftermath of the war by recovering the bombs and mines left behind, giving priority to the Việt Nam-China frontier and areas that often witness bomb-related accidents.

It is estimated that some 30 per cent of explosions were caused by residents illegally storing, trading and sawing into bombs and mines. The other accidents occurred when children and local residents worked in areas filled with bombs and mines and had unintentionally detonated them.

One such explosion took place in the Văn Phú residential quarter of Hà Đông District in Hà Nội on March 19 this year, killing five and injuring 10 others. Another explosion occurred in Đức Bình Tây Commune, Sông Hinh District, the central province of Phú Yên, on May 14, killing three people. — VNS