Northern Provinces Prepare for Annual Haze

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)