AFTER nearly three months working on the ground, the Organisation of American States has now concluded its mine-clearing operations in Stolkersjiver, Suriname’s last known landmine-affected area.

The operations, which began in the area last February and ran non-stop through late April, included destroying the deadly explosive devices.

The OAS said the demining project covered an area of more than 1,565 square meters, and involved a team of Honduran minesweepers working under a Brazilian supervisor. They trained and supervised a group of local soldiers to rid the area of the dangerous devices.

Along with Costa Rica (2002) and Honduras (2004), Suriname will become the hemisphere’s third country to declare “land mine-free” status, thanks to assistance from the OAS’ Comprehensive Mine Action Programme (AICMA).

The OAS said this also marks the second time it has provided assistance to Suriname in this field. The first was in the early 1990s, involving peace accords that included mine-clearing operations coordinated by the OAS.

Landmines unearthed in Suriname were remnants of the country’s civil war of the 1980s. The U.S. and Canadian governments also provided assistance for Suriname’s de-mining programme.

AICMA has been engaged in this field for 13 years and has assisted Central and South American countries in removing and destroying the explosive devices.

The programme receives funding support from 16 donor countries, the OAS said.

Suriname is a signatory to the Ottawa Convention, the international landmine treaty officially known as the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer or Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

The OAS said that Suriname in February last year destroyed its last remaining 146 landmines that had been stockpiled at the Bos Bivak military base.