Acknowlegements

GeoSpatial International Inc. wishes to acknowledge contributions to this project made by officials of the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Government of Canada, the United Nations, international and national NGOs, and its own employees, all of whom worked so hard to make the project a success.

During the two year life of the project some of the people who helped start the project were assigned to new positions but there are some of them who we especially want to thank. They include the former Director of Planning at CMAC Ong Sam Onn who helped us understand the needs of Cambodia during the project planning stage. Also Ian Bullpit the Chief Technical Advisor to CMAC during the first year of the project, whose timely interventions with CMAC enabled us to move forward more efficiently than would otherwise have been possible. Ade Ridoutt was the Field Project Manager during the early stages of field implementation and he set a standard of organisational efficiency that was exemplary. Tony Shori was the Field Survey Manager during this same period and worked with the field survey team to develop the sound data collection procedures that have served the project so well.

At the UNMAS we were fortunate to have Hemi Morete assigned as our liaison officer, and when he left the UN to work as the Technical Advisor to CMAA he provided continuity, understanding and support for the project that has helped us in very many ways.

When the project was first planned CMAC was the Royal Government of Cambodia organisation responsible for all demining activity. After the project started the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) was established, with special responsibility for mine action information management including the Level One survey database. The MOU between Canada and Cambodia was amended to reflect this new reality. As a result we started a period of more intense interaction with the Secretary General of CMAA, HE Sam Sotha. For logistics support and the availability of our field survey staff we continued to rely on CMAC through Director General Khem Sophaon and Director of Planning Tong Try. We wish to especially thank all three of you and your staff who have helped us get things done in an effective manner.

GeoSpatial International Inc., was contracted to implement the survey by the Government of Canada, through CIDA (Canada International Development Agency). The CIDA team leader or PTL was initially Alan Leber, later posted to Bangkok from where he continued to liaise with field project staff, and he was replaced as PTL by Bruce Howell. Cindy Beaman is responsible for CIDA operations in the region and she made critical interventions that enabled the project to continue moving forward at critical moments. We thank all three of them for their dedication to completing the survey.

HE Ambassador Normand Mailhot represented the Government of Canada in Phnom Penh throughout the implementation of the survey. Canada is fortunate to have such far-sighted and dedicated officers in our foreign service. The ambassador helped us implement the survey by resolving issues in Cambodia from beginning to end of the survey.

Although it is always hard to single out specific individuals when it is the combined contributions of many individuals who contribute to a successful project we do wish to acknowledge the outstanding contributions made by two of our staff. They are Mao Vanna who planned the field operation and created and maintained the morale of the surveyors, and Valerie Warmington who has played many roles in the survey process and for the final nine months was the Field Project Manager in Phnom Penh.

Finally we want to thank the thousands of Cambodians who gave their time to participate in the survey, many of whose names and signatures can be found on the original Khmer language survey documents. The survey is the documentation of their knowledge and memories. It is for them, and our entire survey team hopes that it will contribute in significant ways for many years to come in improving the lives of the Cambodian people who live under the perpetual threat of mines and UXO.

Michael Simmons
Project Director