Ministry introduce environmental protection measures for dry season
AS the dry season continues, the Ministry of Environment has instructed all capital-provincial governors to implement measures which will protect air quality. The measures include widespread education campaigns about the dangers of uncontrolled fires.
The General Department of Rubber has also issued specific guidelines to the owners and managers of rubber plantations as precautions.
In its January 18 press release, the ministry said it is closely monitoring the Kingdom’s air quality, collecting data from 51 monitoring stations across the country.
“As of January 16, the air quality situation in Cambodia had improved, the PM 2.5 inertial particle level was between 18.03 μg/m³ to 21.43 μg/m³, which is lower than the standard level of 50 μg/m³ on average, in 24 hours,” the ministry said.
In order to ensure air pollution is kept to a minimum, the ministry has instructed the governors to educate the public about the dangers of burning forests, grasslands, agricultural waste, stubble or solid waste in the open during the dry season.
Measures must also be taken to limit the amount of dust created by construction sites or during the transportation of construction materials. Streets and public places should also be cleaned regularly.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries also issued a notification on the prevention of wildfires.
The ministry’s General Department of Rubber warned on January 16 that as this year’s dry season is unusually hot and dry, the risk of fallen leaves catching fire in the Kingdom’s rubber plantations is high.
“In order to reduce the risk of fire, all rubber plantation owners throughout the country need to be vigilant in cleaning their plantations and cutting fire breaks,” it said.
It advised plantation owners to trim weeds and sweep up fallen leaves. The cut weeds and leaves should be collected in piles, each of which should be burned separately to reduce the risk of a fire spreading.
Close attention should be paid to the direction of the prevailing wind, so that flying sparks do not spread the fire. Burns should be completed by 9am, and all
fires must be completely extinguished.
“It is strictly forbidden to conduct a burn in the afternoon, as this could lead to a fire burning through the night, when management becomes more complex,” said the notice.
It cautioned against waiting until all of the leaves have fallen, as a thick pile of leaves would burn more intensely and become more difficult to control. Fires should be employed approximately three times, once when one-third of the leaves have fallen, and so on.
Kampong Cham provincial governor Un Chanda said on January 18 that provincial authorities have shared the instructions with the public.
He noted that while the province is home to more than 20,000ha of rubber plantations, it has never had a serious fire incident.