Speaker’s Green, House of Commons, Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th April 2014 

A team of landmine detection experts from G4S will be demonstrating to Parliamentarians the skills which have enabled them to detect and destroy nearly 20 million items of unexploded ordnance across the world.

The team, from G4S Ordnance Management, widely regarded as among the leading exponents of humanitarian de-mining, are joining a consortium of British mine-action groups at a special event at Speaker’s Green at the House of Commons, to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on Friday 4 April.

Sponsored by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Explosive Weapons of Conflict including Landmines (APPG on EWC&L), this week’s event will feature a large sandpit with ‘dummy’ mines and metal fragments concealed within it. Experts will demonstrate how they would locate, destroy, and ultimately render harmless, a variety of mines and ordnance. As well as raising awareness of the issue, organisers are also hoping to draw attention to British expertise in this field.

G4S Ordnance Management has operations in 27 countries. Over the last 18 years its demining experts have located and destroyed more than 195,000 landmines, mostly the legacy of conflicts long since ended, returning over 973km² of land to productive use and enabling communities to return to their land and their homes without living in daily fear of death or injury.

Don McDonald, Regional Manager for G4S Ordnance Management in Africa, will be among those at this week’s demonstration. Don is a veteran of demining operations, particularly in Mozambique, where he is currently based, dealing with the thousands of mines and unexploded ordnance which are the legacy of the civil war over 30 years ago.

Don McDonald said:

“Landmines kill around 10,000 people every year and maim countless others. Most of the victims are not soldiers but children who were born many years after the original conflicts have been forgotten.

“Mines are a persistent reminder to communities of conflicts that were long resolved, and are often responsible for more civilian victims than the conflicts themselves. We hope today’s demonstration of landmine clearance techniques will help ensure Parliament’s on-going support for this very important cause.”


G4S Ordinance Management is regarded as a leading provider of Mine Action and Ordnance services operating globally. The company works both onshore and offshore to remove the menace of landmines and explosive remnants of war, supporting development and reconstruction programmes, the Oil & Gas industry and also sustainable humanitarian programmes. Over the last 18 years G4S OM has delivered 263 successful projects in 27 countries across four continents.