Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence held a working session in Da Nang on Tuesday with a delegation of US congressmen on the settlement of war consequences in Viet Nam.

Mr Ted Yoho (right), during a field trip to the dioxin treatment site at the Da Nang International Airport (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Commander of the Air Force - Air Defence Major General Bui Anh Chung, while the US delegation was headed by Ted Yoho, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific under the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The two sides discussed a range of contents, including the treatment of toxic/dioxin contamination at the Da Nang International Airport.  The Vietnamese side suggested the US congress and government to continue providing non-refundable ODA capital for detoxification at toxic/dioxin hotspots, namely the Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports, and for clearance of unexploded mines and bombs.

They also agreed to conduct cooperation activities to support Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims, and to search for remains of US and Vietnamese servicemen missing in action during the war.

Official statistics showed that nearly 61,300 km² of land in all 63 provinces and cities across Viet Nam, or 18.82% of the country’s total area, have been contaminated with explosive objects left from the war, with the central province of Quang Tri being the most contaminated locality.

The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have coordinated to decontaminate about 90,000 m² of land at the Da Nang International Airport.  The funding for this large-scale project comprises 100 million USD from the US government’s non-refundable ODA ,and 2.7 million USD from the Vietnamese government.

Since 2003, the USA has provided Viet Nam with 103 million USD in total for post-war bomb and mine clearance in residential areas and improved ordnance treatment capacity.

Viet Nam and the USA began their join search for remains of US servicemen in 1988, with a total of 1,000 sets of remains handed over to the US government to date.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)