US, Japan remain committed to UXO clean-up efforts in Solomon Islands
BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
The United States and Japan remain committed to the World War II unexploded ordnance (UXO) cleanup effort in the Solomon Islands.
Japan and US are the two leading countries helping in the UXO removal campaign in the Solomons.
The US and Japan embassies in Honiara gave this assurance in response to an article which Island Sun had published Monday this week but then later retracted, titled – ‘Clean Up Your Mess’. The article was not balanced and had called on the US and Japan to clean up WWII UXO and insinuated that the two countries had not done anything towards this cause.
Speaking to Island Sun on Thursday, US Embassy Chargé d’affaires in Honiara, Dan O’Hara and the Japanese Ambassador to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Keiichi Higuchi, put the record straight.
“More than a decade ago, our two countries began a war legacy partnership to help identify and remove bombs and other UXO remaining from World War II. The United States and Solomon Islands have made progress on this UXO priority together.
“And this partnership has accelerated over the last few years, as we work to protect citizens from these hazards. To date, since the beginning of that cooperation, about a decade ago, the United States has provided more than $93.5 million Solomon dollars,” Chargé O’Hara explained.
He said that the US primary partner here in Solomon Islands, as in many other countries, is the HALO Trust.
“In the past two years, the HALO teams that the United States government has funded have deployed to over, as of the latest data we have, 197 locations across the Solomon Islands, and identified more than 3,000 UXO items for the RSIPF to destroy.
“HALO is seen as one of the most highly accomplished clearance, humanitarian UXO clearance organisations. They’re famous for doing demining. They do lots of UXO work. They do lots of different things. They’re incredibly professional in what they do. But unlike in other places I’ve worked alongside HALO Trust, here in the Solomon Islands, they are limited to only being able to do what the government allows them to do.
“In this case, the Solomon Islands government has limited HALO to only doing what’s called non-technical survey, which is essentially historical research and using observable conditions,” he said.
He said that with the funding that the United States has provided HALO, in the last two years they have conducted a non-technical survey of 1,008 suspected hazardous areas covering nearly 35 million square metres.
“In that time, citizens have reported more than 3,000 UXO items to HALO personnel, and HALO has submitted all of those items on 437 call-out forms to the RSIPF to address. HALO Trust has conducted 1,540 risk education sessions in nearly 200 locations around the country, providing information to citizens on how to protect themselves and properly report war remnants.
“So, I think the bottom line is the US is doing everything we can within the framework that exists. And alongside Japan, we’re doing everything we can to expand that framework so that more can be done,” he said.
Japanese Ambassador Keiichi Higuchi, meanwhile, said that the work on the UXO clean-up effort is an evolving effort.
“It’s not like we put some money up and then finish. It’s not like that. Every year, we review whether it’s an appropriate contribution that we made as the Japanese government. And if there’s more that we could do, then of course we will think about what we can do to solve the problem here,” he said.
Higuchi said that through the partnership, a team from Tokyo came to Honiara, providing training for the RSIPF team.
“We assess after we go back to Tokyo, whether it was an appropriate level of involvement, or whether we could work more closely with other teams. I mean, with a team from Australia, a team from the United States. So, all of this makes our understanding more accurate and up to date so that we know more accurately what we can do in the future towards reducing the risks associated with the UXO,” Higuchi said.
Japan has donated towards the UXO removal programme in the Solomons in many ways.
Some of Japan’s assistance include:
-On May 17, 2023 former ambassador HE Yoshiaki Miwa and then Foreign Affairs Minister, Jeremiah Manele, signed and exchanged notes for the Economic and Social Development Programme project which is worth JPY 120 million (around SBD 6.7 million).
-Japan has also donated a 12-metre landing craft to help boost UXO removal operations.
-The Project for Unexploded Ordnance Disposal in Central and Western Solomon Islands under the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects (GGP) programme worth JPY 85,084,020 (around SBD 6.2 million).
-Enhancing the National Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Programme in the Solomon Islands which involves conducting environmental assessment and establishment of a coordination office for disposal of UXOs, worth JPY 79,107,000 (around SBD 4.4 million)
-Donation of a pneumatic shovel worth SBD 2.6 million, two all-terrain carts worth SBD 298,000, a station wagon worth SBD 358,000, pick-up truck single cabin worth SBD 746,000, 2 fully-fitted rayboats worth SBD 418,000, two storage boxes for explosives worth SBD 47,700, and a fire extinguisher machine worth SBD 29,800.
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