§ 16. Sir John Farrasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total area in acres in the Falkland Islands at present unusable because of Argentine mines.
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. John Stanley)The total area in the Falkland Islands presently unusable because of Argentine mines amounts to about 6,440 acres compared with an area of about 3 million acres for the islands as a whole.
§ Sir John FarrWhile I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask him whether he is aware that the land in question is accessible to some of the main centres of the Falklands? What discussions are taking place and what evaluation is taking place on how to detect those mines, which I understand are not metallic but are made of plastic?
§ Mr. StanleyMy hon. Friend is entirely right, in that most of the remaining Argentine mines are concentrated round Port Stanley, which is the main centre of population on the Falkland Islands. During the past year of so, the Ministry of Defence has been carrying out an in-depth research programme, on which about £3 million has already been spent, to try to deal with the problem. So far we have been unable to identify, and even if we spent many millions of pounds more we would be unable to identify, a sufficiently safe way of clearing those mines that could be employed in peace-time. Three Engineers were seriously wounded in the immediate aftermath of the Falklands campaign while trying to clear those mines. My hon. 846 Friend will agree that it would be unjustifiable to risk maiming for life other sappers while trying to deal with the problem.