Project Masam has participated in the re-opening of the Al-Shaab School in Akkad village in the Jabal Habashi district on Sunday after completely securing it and clearing it of landmines.
Project Masam began the clearance and securing operation of Al-Shaab School after a report was sent to the Project Operation Room about the dangerous situation there in the aftermath of an explosion that resulted in the destruction of six classrooms out of the school’s twelve.
During the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by local and foreign media, Project Masam distributed stationery and school bags to the school’s 300 students.
The Supervisor of the Masam teams in the governorate of Taiz, Engineer Aref al-Qahtani confirmed that 63 landmines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices were removed from the school in three months.
Fares al-Maliki, director of the Jabal Habashi Directorate, meanwhile, said that Al-Shaab School used to welcome 700 male and female students from the districts of Jabal Habashi and Al-Maafer, but after the school was booby-trapped, families were forced to transfer the students to remote schools given the school’s dangerous situation.
The deputy director of the Ministry of Education Office in Taiz, Dr. Aref Al-Samet, expressed his gratitude for Project Masam’s lengthy efforts to clear the school and ensure the safe return of the students to the establishment.
Al-Samet concluded by saying: “Al-Shaab School had been turned into a terrifying stronghold of mines and a symbol of death and injuries, but after the humanitarian landmine clearance of Masam, our students have become able to resume the educational process safely, not to mention the confidence which has returned to the educational staff and parents due to the existence of safe and stable conditions in our school.
“We hope that our school will return to full readiness to continue educating our children.”
Project Masam has demined a large number of Yemeni liberated land since the beginning of its operations in mid-2018, effectively removing more than 390,000 landmines, and unexploded ordnance so far.
Deputy director of the Ministry of Education Office in Taiz, Dr. Aref Al-Samet
