By Bida Elly David
The reconstituted transitional national legislative assembly (R-TNLA) on Monday passed a long-deliberated National Mine Action Authority Act 2023 with amendments and recommendations.
The specialized Committee for Defense and Veteran Affairs presented its report at the third and final reading stage for thorough scrutiny.
In his presentation, the chairperson of the committee, Michael Ayuen Johnson, said that the bill guides implementation mines activities.
He added that it also provides for overseeing, regulating, coordinating, supervising, prioritizing, and monitoring the activities of the mine authority.
“The provisions of this bill shall apply to all matters related to the activities of the national mine action authority, all mine action internationally, national NGOs, and contracted companies operating in South Sudan,” he explained.
According to Michael, the bill mandates South Sudan Mine Action Authority to develop policies and regulate mining activities of all national and international institutions across the country.
It further mandates the authority to develop and approve National Technical Standard guidelines as well as formulate appropriate strategies and human resource policies.
The bill also guarantees the mining authority the power to contract international and national organizations and private operators to carry out their demining activities and terminate any contract when violations of these laws might occur.
“The authority, according to the bill, has powers to enter into memoranda of understanding and agreements with international partners on mine action activities,” Michael said.
The bill further gave the national mine action authority powers to accredit and approve all mine action equipment, tools, and explosives imported into the country.
Mine Action Authority plays a bigger role in public education programs to ensure awareness about the risks of explosives.
The mine action authority is also responsible for gathering documents, managing them, and disseminating all information about contamination, clearance and cleared land.
It records number of mines or explosive remnant ERW victims, number of explosive ordinance beneficiaries, and mine risk education.
The committee chair pointed out that facilitation and registration of all mine operators, including companies and national and international organizations, fall under the responsibility of the authority.
“The mine action shall have the following pillars: explosive ordinance, mine risk education, humanitarian demining (survey, marketing, mapping, and clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), victim assistance, and stockpile destruction,’’ he added.