Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan said at a meeting on January 28.

Dust and emissions from vehicles and industrial activities are major causes of air pollution.

Since dust and emissions from vehicles and industrial activities are major causes of air pollution, road washing should be carried out regularly to limit the spread of dust while any vehicles carrying construction materials and waste must be banned.

Localities and relevant ministries should handle construction sites that fail to follow current environmental regulations, particularly those at air pollution hotspots, and prohibit old motorbikes, he said.

Nhan ordered the Vietnam Environment Administration to review the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Decision No 985a/QD-TTg on the approval of the national action plan on air pollution quality by 2020 with a vision to 2025 and outlining measures in 2022.

Participants said it is necessary to estimate emissions so as to outline appropriate mechanisms on fee collections and fine polluters.

They suggested the ministry set up an interdisciplinary group to work with urban areas that have large volumes of vehicles and industrial production facilities, to control air pollution.

In the meantime, authorities of residential areas should be responsible for preventing the burning of straw, charcoal, and bush.

According to the Vietnam Environment Administration, regulations on environmental monitoring will be completed this year, and the implementation of the national technical standards on vehicle emissions will be fulfilled in the fourth quarter./.VNA

Cities, provinces asked to better control air pollution

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has requested provinces and cities thoroughly handle hotspots of air pollution and exhaust gas emissions.

PM orders intensifying air quality control measures

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked ministries and People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces to step up the implementation of programmes and tasks to improve air quality control.