Brush Cutter (Vegetation Clearing Machine)
A machine that cuts back grass, bushes, and shrubs before a minefield is surveyed. Cutting vegetation once took up about 70 percent of the total clearance time in Cambodia, but brush cutters provided through Japan's grant aid mechanized the work, greatly improving the speed and safety of clearance.
Uses
Before surveys with metal detectors or detection dogs, the machines remove vegetation to make the ground easier to work on. At CMAC, mechanical clearance took off from 2005: the area released per year grew from about 10 square kilometers before then to 22 square kilometers in 2005 and about 40 square kilometers in 2009.
Features
According to GICHD, the main role of machines is to speed up the work of other clearance methods, for example by removing vegetation, and they range from purpose-built machines to modified farm machinery. Since 1998, JICA has provided CMAC with brush cutters along with mine detection equipment, clearance support equipment, and vehicles.
Advantages
They greatly reduce the danger and time of cutting vegetation by hand and speed up clearance as a whole. According to JICA, through accumulated equipment provision and technical improvements, CMAC's annual released area grew about 28-fold, from about 10 square kilometers in 1995-99 to about 282 square kilometers in 2023.
Challenges
Machines alone do not complete clearance; the land must afterwards be confirmed with detectors or animals. Building maintenance and repair systems is also important, and CMAC runs a central workshop (maintenance facility) to keep its equipment in working order.