Explosive remnants of war kill 1600 in peacetime Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Mines Action Center which coordinates de-mining activities in the country told parliament Thursday that more than 1,600 people have been killed by anti personnel mines and explosive remnants of the liberation war since the country's independence in 1980.
The center's director Mkhululi Ncube told a parliamentary committee on peace and security that more than 2,000 people had also been injured while almost a million others were traumatized by incidents involving landmines.
"Most of those affected are poor peasants who do not have resources to look after themselves," he said, adding that about 25, 000 and 10,000 hectares of the communal and commercial land remain unaccessable as they are littered with landmines.
"These minefields have a severe impact on the economic lives of peasant farmers as they cannot farm and are losing their livestock, " said Ncube.
He said tourism was also affected, adding that Zimbabwe was unable to fully benefit from the tri-nation Gaza-Kruger- Gonarezhou Transfrontier national park encompassing Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa as its side was heavily infested with anti-personnel mines.
Ncube said Zimbabwe is drawing up a national strategy and time- frame to eradicate all the landmines in the country in line with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.
The government alone had no resources to de-mine all the affected areas and appealed to donors to assist, he said. International organizations such as Halo Trust and the International Red Cross Society were already assisting in the de- mining activities.