Flood and landslide recovery activities completed at TROM Doboj location

With financial assistance from the European Union, within the framework of the Project for the Destruction of Explosive Ordnance and War Remnants (EXPLODE), landslide remediation activities have been completed at the location of the ammunition destruction workshop TROM in Doboj, reports the Patria news agency.

These activities remedied the consequences of last year's floods and eliminated the risks that the landslide posed to the ammunition destruction workshop and weapons storage facilities. There was a possibility that the TROM workshop could be directly pushed by the landslide, jeopardizing its functioning.

-The landslide was one of the biggest security threats to TROM, endangering the process of ammunition delaboration and its safe storage. The assistance from UNDP and the European Union within the EXPLODE project was timely and very important. There was a risk of uncontrolled explosion and potential injuries to personnel in case of further ground movement, said Brigadier Dalibor Perić from the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Efforts to repair damage to the military facility and activities to improve infrastructure, especially at locations with a high degree of security that store hazardous substances, such as TROM, enable personnel to continue their activities without risk of injury. Providing a safe environment for regular functioning is crucial to meet the ammunition destruction goals set by the EXPLODE Project.

The European Union has invested more than 4.6 million euros in improving the safety of ammunition stockpiles. In this area, an exponential increase in the pace of weapons destruction has been observed, so it is expected that more than 2,000 tons of unstable ammunition will be destroyed this year. This improves the safe storage of ammunition and enables training for senior officials of the Ministry of Defence in the field of safe stockpile management.

Andy McGuffie, spokesperson for the EU Delegation and the Office of the EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said:

-We welcome the progress in the field of destroying unstable ammunition. This will help Bosnia and Herzegovina significantly accelerate the closure of this post-conflict chapter. It is evident that action to prevent landslide movement at this weapons destruction site was high on the priority list, and in the interest of everyone's safety.

In this and other ways, the European Union is helping Bosnia and Herzegovina cope with and prevent natural and man-made disasters, which can have negative consequences not only for this country but also for the wider region.

The EXPLODE project is financed by the European Union in the amount of 4,604,830 euros. The EXPLODE project is implemented by the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project lasts until May 2016, announced by UNDP.