Landmines (Whatever happend to Dianas' dream) The British Government and 156 other countries signed the Ottowa Treaty (Dec. 1997) which requires the banning, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of all anti-personnel landmines. It was Princess Diana that first drew worldwide public attention to the human suffering caused by landmines. Her work was instrumental in bringing nations involved in the production of landmines to sign the Ottawa Treaty in 1997. Sadly, thirteen years on it would seem that this legacy has been wasted. After the Ottawa Treaty, governments failed to live up to funding promises on landmine clearance and a number of arms companies were even caught trying to sell landmines in the UK. Other arms companies have found ways of getting around the treaty. Unfortunatly the DFID (The UK Department for International Development) directs the majority of its anti-landmine funding to support UN bureaucracy while the not for profit Organisations such as PeaceAid and other valuable Non-Governmental Organisations, are left out. Only £3m of the £10m budget allocated for landmine action is actually being spent on clearance. In addition the law enshrining the ban through 'UK domestic law' has so far proved ineffectual and the funding given for clearance is small and misdirected. Not a great legacy for a Princess. Despite the Ottawa Treaty, it will take centuries to eradicate the millions of mines located in some seventy countries around the world. Manual Demining The task of manual demining is extremely demanding and depends on men and women whose tools consist of a stick and scythe. Even under good conditions, a deminer cannot clear more than fifty square meters in a day. Since many fragmentation mines are scattered in undergrowth, with a trip wire to detonate them, deminers must first begin by clearing the vegetation, twig by twig. In order to accelerate this process, demining machines have been developed over the last decade. Demining Machines Demining machines need to be robust enough to work under extreme conditions. Maintenance must be simple as work may be done in some very remote places. The cost of such a machine with a variety of tooling can be as much as £450.000.