Project Update on Japan's Grassroots Grant Assistance to Support UXO Disposal in Palau (2nd Year)
2025/8/15
On August 12, 2025, the Embassy conducted its second-year follow-up visit for “The Project for Procurement of Equipment to Promote Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Disposal in Peleliu and Angaur States,” for Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), which received up to USD $209,081 in funding through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) to support UXO clearance operations in Peleliu, Angaur, and throughout Palau.
With this support, NPA acquired two Toyota 4WD Land Cruiser trucks and a 38-foot boat fitted with twin 200-horsepower Yamaha engines. During the follow-up visit, the Embassy is pleased to report that all equipment remains in excellent condition, well maintained, and is used daily in the field.
Now two years later, NPA has completed survey and clearance operations covering over two hundred thousand square meters and removed more than a thousand explosive remnants of war (ERW) throughout the country. This ongoing effort is carried out in close partnership with the Palau Government’s National Safety Office and Japan Action Mine Service (JMAS), who work alongside NPA to ensure safe and coordinated UXO disposal activities across the islands, including the removal of ordnance from sites such as Helmet Wreck. Beyond UXO clearance, NPA also supports the Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties (JARRWC) bone collection team by conducting thorough field surveys in Peleliu and Angaur to ensure their safe bone recovery operations.
The visit follows the project’s handover ceremony in October 2023, where Ambassador Hiroyuki Orikasa highlighted Japan’s support in removing ERWs is a duty owed to both present and future generations of Palau. For more details on the ceremony, please visit: https://www.palau.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_ja/11_000001_00990.html
With this support, NPA acquired two Toyota 4WD Land Cruiser trucks and a 38-foot boat fitted with twin 200-horsepower Yamaha engines. During the follow-up visit, the Embassy is pleased to report that all equipment remains in excellent condition, well maintained, and is used daily in the field.
Now two years later, NPA has completed survey and clearance operations covering over two hundred thousand square meters and removed more than a thousand explosive remnants of war (ERW) throughout the country. This ongoing effort is carried out in close partnership with the Palau Government’s National Safety Office and Japan Action Mine Service (JMAS), who work alongside NPA to ensure safe and coordinated UXO disposal activities across the islands, including the removal of ordnance from sites such as Helmet Wreck. Beyond UXO clearance, NPA also supports the Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties (JARRWC) bone collection team by conducting thorough field surveys in Peleliu and Angaur to ensure their safe bone recovery operations.
The visit follows the project’s handover ceremony in October 2023, where Ambassador Hiroyuki Orikasa highlighted Japan’s support in removing ERWs is a duty owed to both present and future generations of Palau. For more details on the ceremony, please visit: https://www.palau.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_ja/11_000001_00990.html