Residents have donated over $9,000 to the International Campaign against Land Mines, Bermuda Red Cross director Frank Gamble said.

"Our campaign came into being when Cabinet, at its regular meeting the week following the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, decided that Bermudians may wish to remember Diana by making a donation to one of her favourite charities.'' Mr. Gamble added that Cabinet then approached the Bermuda Red Cross who in turn opened bank accounts to give residents the chance to contribute to the campaign.

"So far, the appeal has raised some $9,000,'' he said. "With the exception of one large donation, most of the balance has come from individuals who have donated amounts of $50 -- the cost of a blood transfusion -- or $125 which covers the cost of an artificial limb.'' Mr. Gamble, who was speaking at the weekly meeting of Hamilton Rotarians at Pier Six, also spoke on the "untold human suffering'' that land mines can inflict on innocent civilians, even after hostilities between nations have ended.

"Over 70 countries in the world are now littered with an estimated 119 million anti-personnel land mines, most of them deployed in the past 15 years....,'' he said. "It is estimated that 2,000 people are maimed and killed by anti-personnel mines every month, that is one person every 20 minutes.

"The majority of those are innocent civilians trying to live normal lives, whether it be working in the fields, gathering firewood, or collecting water.'' He added that land mines not only kill, but also cause the "breakdown of social and economic life''.

"Mine clearance is extremely expensive,'' Mr. Gamble said. "Although it costs as little as $3 to buy an anti-personnel mine, it costs around $750 to remove one.'' "Whilst mine clearance efforts remove 100,000 mines worldwide each year, another two-and-a-half million are planted over the same period,'' he added.

"Mines also hinder post-conflict economic recovery in some countries by denying access to farmland and preventing refugees from returning to their homes.'' Mr. Gamble also informed the Rotarians on the on-going efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the British Red Cross.

"Since 1979, the ICRC has manufactured over 100,000 prostheses for over 80,000 amputees in 45 projects in 22 countries around the world,'' he said.

"During the same period it manufactured nearly 30,000 orthoses and some 140,000 crutches.

"The British Red Cross is running a non-political awareness and fund raising campaign aimed at drawing public attention to the humanitarian issues surrounding anti-personnel land mines and providing support for their victims.''