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Humanitarian Mine Action

Humanitarian demining

Perparim Bytyci, DanChurchAid HMA Team Leader

Perparim Bytyci was born in the Has Region of North East Albania in 1974 and lives today in Tirana with his wife and son. After secondary school he served within the Albanian Army as an Officer from 1988 until 1998.

Why this type of Work:

After the Kosovo conflict which contaminated the Albanian/Kosovo border, I decided to apply for a position as deminer to be able to help my country with the clearance of the many mines and UXO. As I myself am from one of the communities that has been affected by the contamination, and with my skills obtained within my service in the army, I see this job as a natural thing to do.

Daily responsibilities:

Together with my colleague Mr. Fatbardh Qaushi, I’m in charge of the daily tasking of our six demining Teams. This tasks includes planning of Team deployment into minefields, supervision of the clearance safety issues, liaison with the Albanian Mine Clearance Executive (called mine action centre in other countries), response to EOD call outs along the Albanian/Kosovo border, liaison with the local communities and the tasking of our logistical section with regards to purchase and supply to the Teams camped in the remote mountains.

Daily challenges within the work:

Transporting our explosives for demolition of recovered mines, as we have to cross the border to be able to reach the working areas. This task takes time, as we have to inform the border police on both sides of the border prior to our transports.

Our EOD call outs are often situated in difficult terrain impossible to reach by vehicle, and the contact person reporting the find might not be in the area, which prolongs the time spend on each call out.

The weather conditions changes very fast in the mountain areas, which hampers the clearance efforts of our Teams. Temperatures may go from minus 5 to plus 35 within a couple of days, and our camps are often hit by thunderstorms and high winds.

The access to the remote minefields is difficult due to an almost nonexistent infrastructure, and our Teams may have to walk for one hour from the parking areas to reach the resting area at the task site.

Positive points about working for DCA:

Some of the main positive points about working for DCA are that I have been developed in skills like English language, EOD, computer skills and communication skills with regards to cooperation with my colleagues, and the possibility to adapt the Scandinavian way of approaching work and daily challenges.

These skills obtained throughout the last couple of years made it possible for me to travel to Denmark in the beginning of September, to participate as instructor during the Danish Army’s EOD course and to improve my EOD skills through cooperation with the Danish Demining and EOD Centre.

Future plans:

I would like to continue working for DCA as long as my services is needed, and if possible continue to a foreign country as Technical Advisor once the mine clearance in Albania has been completed.