CHIANG MAI, Oct 10 (TNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Gen.
Prawit Wongsuwon directed policies to officials in nine northern provinces to
prepare for the annual haze, generally hitting the region in the dry season.
Gen.Prawit presided over the meeting on preparation to
tackle ultra-fine dust at at Chiang Mai International Exhibition and
Convention Centre on Thursday.
The meeting discussed preventive measures against
particulate matter air pollution and lessons from the haze crisis earlier this
year.
It was attended by the Third Army Region Commander, Lt
Gen Chalongchai Chaiyakham, provincial governors and senior officials from
related agencies.
Gen. Prawit instructed officials to deploy personnel
and equipment to contain the level of tiny particulate matter within the safety
standard.
The main focus is to control open burning and to intensify
operations against forest fires.
The Interior Ministry will be a single command for
comprehensive cooperation and will support patrol and ground and air fire-fighting
operations, the minister said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
will work to cut hotspots to zero from March 15 to April 30.
In the long term, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
will stop burning of agricultural waste by local farmers within three years. It
will advise farmers in nine northern provinces to adopt farming methods, free from
burning.
The Transport Ministry will prevent opening burning along
highways and provincial governors were assigned to monitor the smoke haze
situation and strictly control or ban open burning in their provinces.
Regarding cross-border haze, negotiations will be
held in the framework of the border committee meetings with neighbouring
countries to address the problem.
Artificial rainmaking operations will be carried out
to reduce tiny dust if a haze crisis gets worse. (TNA)
