Parliament discusses air pollution

During its Friday session, Parliament discussed measures proposed by the government to reduce air pollution in Ulaanbaatar.

Many legislators noted that a substantial amount of money was spent through the state budget and international loans and aids to reduce air pollution but Ulaanbaatar residents have not seen better results, and they ask the environment minister and Ulaanbaatar administration why air pollution is still the biggest problem in the capital.

Minister of Environment and Tourism N.Tserenbat pointed out that the main problem is that the governments implemented several projects to improve the quality of coal-burning stoves in recent years, but neglected improve the quality of raw coal and failed to implement an effective measures to combat air pollution.

He added that the government started promoting electric heating since last year and the current government is continuing this initiative. N.Tserenbat noted that the National Agency for Metrology and Environment Monitoring reported that the air quality of Ulaanbaatar has improved in the past three years.

Minister of Energy Ts.Davaasuren stated that the ministry is about to extend the electric and thermal transmission systems of major power plants to increase their capacity to provide more households with free nighttime electricity, but reducing heating losses of apartments, ger district houses and gers are of significant importance to improving energy efficiency.

MP M.Bilegt asked President of Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS) D.Regdel whether MAS researchers found possible solutions to reduce air pollution based on scientific studies.

D.Regdel stated that using electric heaters instead of stoves and reducing heat loss are the two fundamental proposals put forward by researchers. He noted that a new ger cover was made using materials manufactured in Mongolia to reduce heat loss, which costs 1,300,000 MNT, and they also created a heating system that provides heating of 24 degrees Celsius from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. by accumulated heat during the nighttime free electricity tariff hours (9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). He added that establishing several thermal substations in ger district is also crucial.

Yo.Baatarbileg, the head of a task force created by Parliament to review measures on air pollution, emphasized that President Kh.Battulga proposed to the government and Parliament to fight air pollution by declaring a state of emergency, but this is not feasible.

MP J.Ganbaatar stressed that Parliament should focus on eradicating poverty as a major factor that results in air pollution. He said that instead of implementing ineffective projects, the state needs to fight corruption and bureaucracy in the construction sector to reduce the prices of apartments to provide ger district residents with cheaper housing.

“When a construction company wants to build an apartment, the company has to get more than 100 state paperworks from state authorities, but after meeting state bureaucracy, the company has to engage in corruption to build the apartment, so the real price of apartments is increased,” he said.

President Kh.Battulga participated in the session, and expressed his position on the proposed measures.

The president emphasized that Parliament and government should carry out policies that promote the development of rural areas by developing the agricultural sector to address rural-to-urban migration resulting in increased air pollution in Ulaanbaatar. He added that people doing businesses that profit by taking advantage of air pollution should be held accountable; projects to build satellite towns, and move universities and some state authorities from Ulaanbaatar to other towns should be implemented; and unemployed people should be given jobs through projects to build more housing.

President Kh.Battulga criticized proposals put forward by Parliament, the government and MAS as he believes that the proposals can’t be put into practice.

After the meeting, standing committees on food, agriculture and environment; social policy, education, culture and science; and budget met to draft a parliamentary resolution to fight air pollution which includes the proposals and views of the president and lawmakers. Parliament is expected to adopt the resolution this week.