Observers winced as workers gave the signal on Thursday to detonate a pile of old mortar shells and unexploded munitions on this former US Navy bombing range that was once the focus of heated protest.
“Fire in the area!” came the shout as the first of four controlled blasts shook the ground, as the US Navy began its cleanup project in Vieques, a tiny island of 9,000 residents, ringed by beaches and turquoise waters east of mainland Puerto Rico.
The 1,200kg of weaponry destroyed on Thursday is a fiery reminder of the Naval Training Range, which was hammered for decades with live rounds from warships and planes, and is now scattered with piles of mangled metal.
The Navy finally agreed to close the range in April 2003, after years of protests against the danger and din of the practice bombing. But thousands of unexploded munitions were left behind, lurking under tropical foliage.
Now, contract workers are methodically clearing the site, overseen by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The effort, begun in 2005, could take 10 years, and the Navy has set aside US$200 million, officials said.
On Thursday, reporters were invited to watch the destruction.
Outrage over the range began in 1999, when a Marine jet dropped two bombs off target, killing a local security guard and drawing the ire of islanders.
The Navy closed the range four years later, handing it over to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Islanders have since sought to make the area a tourist destination.
In the first two years of cleanup, some 2.1 million kilograms of scrap iron were recovered and melted down in large furnaces on the island, before being shipped to the US mainland as scrap metal, said Chris Brown, a subcontractor with the environmental services firm of PIKA International, Inc.
Still, just 314 hectares of the 5,800-hectare training range have been cleared, said Christopher Penny, head of the Vieques Restoration Program.
Two-thirds of the site remains closed to the public because it is still peppered with unexploded munitions.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
RSS