13/01/2023 Isole Salomone, Guadalcanal, Honiara
“If you ever come across anything suspicious like this item, please do not pick it up, contact your local law e enforcement agency for assistance”.
The U.S. Department of State will provide $1 million to fund ongoing efforts to locate and document unexploded ordnance left behind by American and Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands 80 years after one of the most ferocious campaigns of World War II. Unexploded ordnance, called UXO, still kills and maims an estimated 20 Solomon Islanders annually and little has been done by the U.S., its allies, Japan or the Solomon Islands to understand the true scope of the issue. UXO experts agree a comprehensive survey of the almost 1,000-island archipelago is needed before meaningful work to clear the rusted bombs and other explosive remnants of WWII can begin. However, Solomon Islands officials have expressed reservations over a lack involvement in the process that awarded the contract to British-American nonprofit HALO Trust. They are also concerned that a formal agreement between the U.S. and the Solomon Islands has yet to be signed, even though the contract started on Jan. 1. The Solomon Islands have attracted increased U.S. attention for its increasingly close relationship with China whose influence in the Pacific is a geopolitical concern for the U.S. and its allies. The White House held its first summit with Pacific nations in September, leading to a Declaration on U.S.-Pacific Partnership, including a commitment to resolve the longstanding UXO issue.
Fatal Incident Underpins Distrust
A 2020 incident involving a previous contractor, Norwegian People’s Aid, underpins local concerns. Two of the nongovernmental organization’s staff members died while attempting to disarm a mortar in a residential section of the capital, Honiara — an area where they were not contracted to operate. The deaths resulted in the project being halted until early 2022, when the U.S. opened up applications to restart the contract.
If you find anything that appears to be an explosive device, do not touch it, leave it where it is and call the police. We will contact the appropriate agencies to properly dispose of the item.
Dear editors, Biography of a bomb is aimed at highlighting the danger caused by unexploded bombs. Moreover, the most important aspect is that we work completely non profit, raising awerness about this topic is what drives us. We apologize if we make use of pictures in yours articles, but we need them to put a context in how findings are done. We will (and we always do) cite source and author of the picture. We thank you for your comprehension.
