Japan donates Rs 115mn to MAG for de-mining in North

The Japanese government has provided US$ 636,262 (Rs. 115 mn) to the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for humanitarian de-mining activities in Northern Sri Lanka, a statement from the Japanese embassy said.
The grant contract was signed on December 23, 2020, at the Ambassador’s Residence in Colombo, between Ambassador Sugiyama Akira and Ms Emilie Mbaye, Interim Country Director of MAG.

The project will contribute to the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka in ensuring that mine-contaminated areas are safe, enabling the resettlement of displaced people and enhancing directly or indirectly more than 8,000 people’s livelihoods in the Mannar and Vavuniya Districts.

MAG commenced operations in Sri Lanka in 2002 with approximately 20% of its clearance activities accomplished through Japanese assistance. Since 2009 when precise data was made available, MAG has released the total of 93km2 of suspected contaminated land in the country.

Japan has been a major donor in the area of mine clearance in Sri Lanka since 2002 and is the only donor in the country which assists all four de-mining NGOs currently operating in the island. More than US$ 38.2 million worth of assistance was rendered towards this cause through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP).

The Government of Sri Lanka aims to achieve “a mine impact free Sri Lanka” within a few years and to become the next mine impact free country in the world. Through this project, the Government of Japan endeavours to ensure that Sri Lanka is safe for all.