Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has ordered relevant organizations to enforce laws strictly to reduce smog and ask operators and people to cooperate.
Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantrawanit, spokesman of the deputy prime minister, said the order responded to the high levels of particulate matters 2.5 microns and less in size (PM2.5) in many areas, especially in Bangkok and big cities.
According to the spokesman, the order went to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry, the Royal Thai Police Office, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Ministry of Public Health.
The organizations will be imposing relevant laws and measures and ask private and civil sectors to help solve smog at its root causes.
“Gen Prawit wants local officials of the Ministry of Interior to use hot spot maps to tackle field burning. The Ministry of Industry will check pollution from factories and seek their production reduction. The Ministry of Transport and the police will solve traffic problems especially in areas of traffic congestion, stop vehicles emitting black smoke and encourage people to use public transport,” Lt Gen Kongcheep said.
The governors of Bangkok and nearby provinces would limit the time of construction, the use of vehicles in congested urban zones and the activities that would create smoke. The Ministry of Public Health was ordered to take good care of people, especially children, elderly people and those suffering from allergies, Lt Gen Kongcheep said. (TNA)
