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Falkland Islands

F

Fuzeman

Guest
Reading the Daily telegraph today there is an article mentioning that the Falkland islands are finally going to have their 116 minefields cleared, that a study by cranfield institute have concluded that mines buried in Peaty ground could be detected with modern methods and equipment.
A lot of the mines were of the minimum metal types , which in 1983 were very hard to detect with the 4C detectors .
Amongst the many items collected over the years i was lucky enough to purchase a lot of Falkland mine maps , its going to interesting to compare these 1983 maps to the modern ones in a few years time .
 
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Hi Steve,

still a dangerous job though i would have thought. I certainly would not want it even if i was trained for it which i am not. With that number of mines can they guarantee no casualties even these days with all the improved technology? Leave em be i say and guarantee not to injure anyone.
Then theres the argument that they pose a longterm danger to the Islanders which ime sure they want sorting. Its a sort of you do and you dont scenario.

Andy
 
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Apparently the Falkland Islands have billions of gallons of oil underneath. But at the moment it is too constly to extract. This may well be a factor in clearing the mines.
 
One of the problems they face is mines washing down rivers and streams and ending up floating about on the shore. It's also complicated by the fact that some of the sand beaches were mined as well. I have a photo somewhere of a dead horse in a minefield, taken on the beach behind 2 Fd Wksps REME
 
Hi Guys
Uup to now whats been happening is that known or suspected minefields have been fenced off , there is still conventional munitions being found and destroyed , but the minefields have been left alone.,
 
I think it has to do with Ottowa to ban the use of AP mines.
And if there is oil but the price is to low now :tinysmile_tongue_t:.
It's good to clear the old mine fields.
 
The oil is probably something to do with it although we just did,nt really have the technoligy or the funding to clear the mine fields it was far more cost effective just to fence them off and pay compensation to the farmer over the loss of a blown up sheep, or two
 
Each State Party must make every effort to identify all areas under its jurisdiction or control in which anti-personnel mines are known or suspected to be emplaced.
Each State Party must as soon as possible ensure that these mined areas are perimeter marked, monitored and protected by fencing or other means, to ensure the effective exclusion of civilians, until all anti-personnel mines contained therein have been destroyed.
Each State Party must render these mined areas no longer dangerous as soon as possible but not later than 10 years after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party.
If a State Party believes that it will be unable to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas within 10 years, "it may submit a request ... for an extension of the deadline for completing the destruction of such anti-personnel mines, for a period of up to ten years".

http://www.apminebanconvention.org/

Yes its the Ottwa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. It has nothing to do with oil (got to love conspiracy theories!)

Quatermass.​
 
Hi,
dont wish to appear silly here but what is a 'State Party' and why is such terminology used? Couldnt they use plain old English that we might all understand?

Andy
 
Hello gothica7, I cut and pasted the info from the offical website, when have you ever known offical language to be user friendly! :tinysmile_hmm_t:

'State party' refers to the country that has signed up to the convention.

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction is the cornerstone of the international effort to end the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel (AP) mines. The Convention was adopted on 18 September 1997 and it entered into force on 1 March 1999. As of 1 September 2008, 156 states had joined the Convention.
The Convention provides a framework for mine action, seeking both to end existing suffering and to prevent future suffering. The Convention bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. In addition, states that accede to the Convention accept that they will destroy both stockpiled and emplaced anti-personnel mines and assist the victims of mines.

Quatermass
 
The ottawa convention i dont think has anything to do with this its all down to who was going to remove the mines it was loosley agreed at a meeting some years ago that the argentine government was going to pay, and that the uk government was going to do a costing .
you coud apply the same ottowa treaty to the Germans and the mines laid in France , Belgium , etc
The oil is in the sea i believe reading a report recently
 
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Article 5.3 of the Convention states that if a State Party believes it will be unable to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control within 10 years of the entry-into force of the Convention, it may submit a request for an extension of its deadline for completing the destruction of such anti-personnel mines, for a period of up to ten years. At the 7MSP in September 2006, the States Parties established a process to assist in preparing, submitting and analysing extension requests. At the 8MSP in November 2007, the Convention's President provided an orientation to this process and provided clarity regarding how it would work.
Fifteen States Parties with deadlines in 2009 have submitted requests for extensions to be considered at the November 2008 Ninth Meeting of the States Parties.

While i'm sure that the British and Argentine govenments are working together on this matter (see the British Govenments request for an extension) the convention states that mines on British territory and are of British responsibility.

Steve, the important section is 'In addition, states that accede to the Convention accept that they will destroy both stockpiled and emplaced anti-personnel mines' That means German laid mines in France, Belgium etc are the responsibiliy of the country the mines reside in, not the country that laid them.

http://www.apminebanconvention.org/ its all on the offical website which is why i posted the link.

Quatermass
 
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Thanks Quatermass,

why the hell they could not have just said country i will never know. Perhaps they should try 'Newspeak' next time. However i think that would be 'doubleplus ungood'.

Andy
 
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I can tell you that the minefield clearance has been going on since the end of the Argentinan junta was ousted , as to who was going to clear up the mines and other debris of war , this was well before the otttawa treaty was even thought about ,but with the relations between the uk government and the argentian goverment improving relations , and also with the Falkland islanders themselfs , i understand that the argentinian goverment wanted to clear their mines , which was nice of them considering a lot were planted outside the marked areas and others were dropped out of aircraft and were not recorded at the time .
 
Mines FI

Gents ,
Having spent a number of tours in FI, one of which was "Q" Mines, I'm pleased to see that some one's put his name on a piece of paper to say all the mines will be lifted / cleared! The Argies that laid the mines did so with out the use of an Ordanace survey map and where and if possible used Navy Charts, they also when they laid these mines the idea was for them to win, So after a period of time they would have to lift / clear them and to this aim made some quite detailed mine field record, that would make sense to the Argie Spr who had to do the job, I gree that during the heat of battle mines were laid with no records so some mine fields would have no information, BUT LETS NOT THINK THTA THE POOR BUGGERS THAT HAVE TO LIFT THEM NOW WILL NOT GO THROUGH A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS. Spending 9 x hours a day 6 days aweek in a mine field is no joke, and I can only pray that the Sapper all come home in One piece.
Note Definition of a mine field is 1 x mine to delay the enemy,
The mainly used AP mine the P4B came in cartons of 10, the pattern used was 8, what happens to the other 2? Spr's is Spr's.
Lets just hope they all come home, ps the 1983 map My team completed.
 
Hi Dave
Very true my sentiments entirely , lets hope who ever clears them will do so safely !
I have in my collection the planting instructions on these minimum metal (Plastic mines ) found along side the actual mine itself , a mistake maybe ! it certinly was a talking piece when it was recovered.
 
gothica7 said:
Thanks Quatermass,

why the hell they could not have just said country i will never know. Perhaps they should try 'Newspeak' next time. However i think that would be 'doubleplus ungood'.

Andy
Click to expand...

The full term (when used) is member States Party to the Convention. At the same time you can have States not Party to the Convention (non-signatories to the treaty) or States which have signed but not ratified - meaning that they signed the treaty but have not passed it into law in their own country yet. This is common treaty language that is used in the BW and CW treaties as well. A State is normally a country, but not always (i.e. the Holy See is a signatory State to the Chemical Weapons Convention).
 
I recently saw a newspaper article about this. It said that the guys doing the de-mining are from Zimbabwe. I only hope they are getting paid enough.
 
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