The Locality Demining Model in Cambodia: Developing Alternatives (Linking Mine Action to Development)

After more than a decade of mine action by international operators in Cambodia, there was an increasing realisation of the need for more efficient ways of undertaking manual clearance. More appropriate solutions for clearance needed to be explored and the growing awareness that mines in Cambodia were being cleared by communities themselves meant MAG needed to investigate the possibilities of a village-based model. At the same time MAG continues to use the highly mobile MAT units comprising of 15 multi-skilled individuals, ready to respond to the various demands within mine action. A number of diverse tasks can be dealt with at any given time with the MAT and, whilst it plays a vital role in manual clearance, there was scope to develop a more efficient demining model that kept salaries in the local community, is cost-effective for the donor and, as added bonus, eliminated the problems of long commutes for demining staff.