Mekong sub-region tackles haze problem

CHIANG RAI, Feb 24 (TNA) – Thailand hosted a meeting with four Mekong sub-region countries to discuss transboundary haze pollution, targeting the region to be free of haze in 2020. Thai Natural Resources and Environment Minister Surasak Kanjanarat presided over the 6th Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Mekong Sub-Region, participated by five member countries, including Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand at a hotel in the northern province of Chiang Rai. During the meeting, the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC) reported the situation of each country. The meeting discussed guidelines to mitigate forest fires and burning on farmland, the major cause of smog pollution during the dry season, which affects health of local people and tourism. The meeting pushed for implementation of the roadmap, targeting the region to be free of tranboundary haze pollution in 2020. Meanwhile, Thailand’s several Northern provinces issued a 60-day burn ban, starting this month in a bid to control haze pollution. So far, the small particles in the north have stayed below the safe limit of below 120 microgram per one cubic metre. (TNA)