Edition 2.1 - March 2020 DOWNLOAD
Introduction
Clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) can be an expensive undertaking that can drain both national resources and international aid. To achieve as much as possible with the funding available, demining operations must be conducted efficiently. The primary focus is on safety for the end users of the land because their safety is the primary goal of HMA. The safety of persons employed in mine action is of equal importance. A secondary focus is the optimization of efficiency so that unnecessarily excessive costs are avoided. The main outcome of HMA is the confident release of formerly hazardous land that has been searched and cleared in a manner that makes end-users safe from explosive hazards. Land release is the process that is applied to release land that is known or believed to be hazardous to the community for socio-economic utilization. Land release is achieved by Non-Technical Survey (NTS), Technical Survey (TS), and/or area search and clearance. In Lebanon, Land release, whether conducted by the national authority or IAs, requires the demonstration of “all reasonable effort” having been expended to ensure the land is safe. All reasonable effort shall be demonstrated by ensuring first that appropriate information has been identified, gathered, and accurately analyzed to support informed decision making, then by the application of appropriate demining procedures and processes that result in safe Land release. The Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) shall determine whether NTS is followed by TS or shall directly lead to area clearance, or to the release of the land without further intervention. To make these decisions reliably based on evidence, LMAC uses proven information management practices and data gathered from all available sources and manages this information with the aid of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). This NMAS provides general guidelines and principles for Land Release. It should be read in conjunction with NMAS 08.10 Non-Technical Survey, NMAS 08.20 Technical Survey, NMAS 09.10 Clearance Requirements, NMAS 09.13 Minefield Clearance and NMAS 09.11 Battle Area Clearance, as appropriate.