Mary-Louise Hoffman
Stability operations contractor Sterling Global Operations (SGO) recently executed the site work of a two-year project funded by the United Arab Emirates that helped locate and destroy more than 11,000 unexploded bombs left over from wars in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
The United Nations Mine Action Service administered the project in Kandahar, which borders Pakistan for around 250 miles. SGO said the UN body estimates around 26,000 residents there live within a third-of-a-mile of a mine field and the project removed explosives impacting more than 100 Afghan communities.
For its work, SGO developed a community-based approach that employed more than 1,600 Afghans on the demining effort, SGOÂ said Wednesday. Company technical advisors helped the project meet international deminer standards by selecting, training and supervising Afghans who completed a demining course.
“At SGO we are proud of our contribution to this important work on behalf of the UAE and the people of Afghanistan,†said Alan Weakley, president and chief operating officer. “Our partnership with the UN and the government of the UAE contributed to over 38 million square meters (9,390 acres) of land being returned to productive use by the citizens of Kandahar Province.”
Weakley joined SGO in September 2013 from CSC, where he lead that contractor’s North American public sector defense organization. The former U.S. Navy officer earlier led an 8,000 person CSC applied technology team and held executive leadership positions at URS. Corp. and EG&G Federal Services.
Lenoir, Tenn.-based SGO said that its efforts will contribute to the construction of a school, health clinic and around 4,000 homes for displaced persons in two villages in the Panjawayw district.
SGO employs around 3,500 individuals around the world and specializes in munitions response, logistics, intelligence support and security operations in austere and hostile environments.
