Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has required the Ministry of Resources and Environment to probe and report on the realistic implementation of a new motorcycle emissions standard in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which involves the elimination of obsolete and dilapidated motorbikes from the streets.

The premier issued a directive on air quality monitoring, which mentioned the heightening scale and intensity of air pollution in major cities, most notably Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which undermined socio-economic development as well as public health.

The directive named dust and exhaust emissions from commuting vehicles, unregulated discharges from construction sites and industrial manufacturing, a lack of green space, and unsynchronized execution of regulation frameworks in air quality monitoring as the root causes of deteriorating air quality.

In order to rein in air pollution and mitigate adverse health repercussions for the community, the PM assigned the Ministry of Resources and Environment to devise a plan on air quality monitoring in the 2021-25 period before submitting it to him in the first quarter of this year.

The head of government also required the Ministry of Resources and Environment to keep an eye on the accuracy of air quality monitoring, publicly announce the tracking results, and issue public health warnings in real time.

The ministry is also told to focus on the completion of a national standard on industrial and road vehicle emissions, which is expected to bring Vietnam’s air quality close to the benchmark of developed countries.

The road map to this standard of road vehicle emissions should be completed by the last quarter of 2021, PM Phuc stated.

Meanwhile, authorities in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other cities at high risk of air pollution are required to make haste on their own development of a master plan to monitor air quality as instructed by the premier.

Plans to deal with local cases of extreme air pollution, as well as the tracking of emissions and fine particles, such as PM10 and PM2.5, should be presented by local-level authorities before December 31.

The prime minister urged local authorities to develop their own public transport systems, prioritize usage of clean energy, as well as ban obsolete vehicles from commuting on the road to prevent emissions.

He also required cities to encourage public transport usage among residents, reduce traffic congestion by properly channeling traffic flows, as well as regularly cleaning the roads to prevent dust.

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