British "Bigfoot" Steps into Bosnia

August 30, 2001

One of the redbus control vehicles fondly known as the "Brick." (Photo: Mercy Corps)

Residents in Mostar, a town in southwestern Bosnia, might be in for a bit of a surprise in the next few weeks when they look out their windows. Bigfoot is expected to arrive in town soon after completing a journey over-land that began a week ago in Scotland.

Unlike its mythical namesake, this Bigfoot should be a welcome sight. It is a component in the Redbus Landmine Disposal System (LMDS), towards which Mercy Corps Scotland has donated £22,000 to aid the safe and efficient clearing of landmines in Bosnia.

Redbus LMDS has two remote-controlled machines, "Bigfoot" and "Mineworm." Bigfoot has a number of armoured feet that apply pressure to the ground to detonate land mines; the machine also carries an innovative vegetation cutter. Mineworm follows and excavates to a chosen depth of up to 55 cm, removing all unexploded ordinances.

Mike Trueman, Mercy Corps Country Director in Bosnia, will meet with Bob French, the inventor of this exciting system, when he arrives in Bosnia this weekend. Speaking in Edinburgh last week, Trueman said:

"I am extremely keen to support Redbus LMDS as it has the potential to vastly improve our service to the people of Bosnia, who wish to return to their homes and rebuild their lives after the devastating civil conflict."

"When Mercy Corps rebuilds houses and repairs the country's infrastructure, we have to have the land cleared by a mine team first of all. I recently spoke with two farmers in Brcko, northern Bosnia, who were so desperate to return to their home and rebuild it, that they cleared the landmines themselves, at tremendous personal risk. These two men are in their sixties. I was struck by their nonchalant attitude as they told their story and am therefore convinced that their experience is a common one."

There is a desperate need for advancement in peacetime mine clearing. In Bosnia alone, 5000 square kilometres of mapped minefields remain, while approximately the same area of unmapped minefields also exist. Over the last four years, only 22 square kilometres of land have been cleared. Elsewhere, the picture is even bleaker.

Current mine-clearing methods are painfully slow: in overgrown areas, two people often only clear between ten and twenty square metres per day. Four People using Bigfoot and Mineworm can clear approximately five thousand square metres per day - an area larger than a football (soccer) pitch.

Redbus LMDS has been working closely in Bosnia with three local charities, representing the Bosniak, Croat and Serb ethnic groups. These agencies will be trained to use the Redbus system, which they will keep on indefinite loan.

The machines will undergo evaluation during live mine clearance operations from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre (BHMAC) and the International Test Evaluation Programme. People in Bosnia will be trained to use Bigfoot and Mineworm.

Eddie Banks, technical advisor to BHMAC and long-term supporter of Mercy Corps Scotland will be closely involved in the trials of LMDS Redbus and he is excited at the prospect for Bosnia:

"LMDS could be invaluable to the work of Mercy Corps as they strive to help people to improve their own lives. Disposal of land mines is essential to each of the four 'R's' of development work in Bosnia: Repatriation, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation."

Mercy Corps Scotland has been in Bosnia since 1992, beginning with the delivery of relief supplies and later expanding to infrastructure and shelter programmes. In the aftermath of the war, Mercy Corps Scotland took on the management of collective centres, the repair of houses, schools, and water supply systems, and began a successful microcredit programme. Mercy Corps Scotland's mission is to successfully link recovery and development assistance with the strengthening of civil society values and institutions.

For more information about landmine removal progress in Bosnia, see www.lmds.redbus.co.uk