Firing ranges cleanup bill $10m
The Defence Force will clear its former firing ranges in Afghanistan at a cost of $10 million.
An agreement with Afghanistan to complete this clearance, which is now expected to take two years, was signed on Monday.
A Stuff Circuit investigation last month revealed seven children were among 17 killed and injured by unexploded ordnance left behind on New Zealandoperated firing ranges in Afghanistan. In response, Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern directed the Defence Force to urgently and properly clear the ranges of ordnance. Yesterday, both heads of the Defence Force and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) fronted MPs of the foreign affairs, defence and trade select committee.
Chief of Defence Kevin Short said the Defence Force had signed an agreement with Afghanistan’s Directorate of Mine Action Coordination (Dmac) on Monday.
The Defence Force would run a tender process to hire a company to clear the ranges early in the new year, to begin work as early as March. Short said it would cost about US$7m, roughly
NZ$10m. ‘‘Part of the delay is that ... they were looking at such huge areas – five times the size of the ranges that we were actually in – and saying it was going to be
$50m,’’ he said.
‘‘So we have been saying, the type of weapons we used, the systems and the actual range was considerably smaller, so we have been negotiating that down to what is 38 square kilometres over five ranges.’’
National MP Gerry Brownlee asked if the contractor could take imagery of the ordnance cleared, in the hope of identifying whether it was of Russian origin.
Brownlee wanted this to happen as Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier this month ‘‘condemned’’ New Zealand’s actions regarding the ranges, saying the country was responsible for ‘‘crimes’’.
Short said the contractor would take photos where possible. Brownlee asked MFAT chief executive Chris Seed about the foreign ministry’s response to the ‘‘particularly outrageous’’ allegation from Russia.
‘‘[Foreign Minister Winston] Peters of course has addressed this ... in Parliament ... The deliberate decision was that it was not worthy of response,’’ Seed said.
‘‘Part of the delay is that ... they were looking at such huge areas ... and saying it was going to be $50 million.’’
Chief of Defence Kevin Short