Spraying water and checking smoke-belching vehicles are nothing but piecemeal efforts. State agencies are using their own legal apparatus in a haphazard manner to no avail, which explains why polluters are let off the hook. Although several bills designed to end smog season and hold polluters accountable are soon to be debated, they face an uphill battle in parliament.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Myanmar Junta sells resources to neighbors in exchange for ‘legitimacy’
The junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) is trying to stabilize this situation by selling the country’s resources to friendly neighbors China and Thailand, specifically concessions for large hydro dam projects and Special Economic Zones.
Goldman Prize for Vietnamese pangolin activist
In 2014, Nguyen founded NGO Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, headquartered in the Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam’s North Central Coast region. He has since established two pangolin rehabilitation centers, in Cuc Phuong and Pu Mat National Parks, and an anti-poaching unit, where he trains government rangers in wildlife conservation, animal identification, GPS skills, and drone technology.
Cambodia gold mine news prompts pollution concerns
Rong Cheng, a Chinese-owned company located in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima district and still in operation, was among the companies blamed for the pollution, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
China-backed SEZs linked to Southeast Asia’s illegal wildlife trade
Most interestingly, a significant part of this trade activity was observed in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) established to encourage increased trade and investment from China.
Myanmar junta’s solar tender unlikely to rejuvenate foreign investment
Fitch Solutions believes that the Myanmar military government’s solar project push, the first attempt at stimulating foreign investment since the coup, will not succeed and will do little to turn the gloomy economic situation around.
Thailand delays plastic scrap import ban for five years
It seems a compromise solution has been agreed, whereby the ban will come in within five years, but the definition of what constitutes permitted import of plastic scrap has been tightened.
Mekong Delta province to plant 10 million trees in five years
Of the 10 million trees to be grown, more than 8.2 million trees will scatter in urban and rural areas while nearly 1.8 million others covering more than 369ha will concentrate in protection and commercial forests. They include woody, perennial, and multi-purpose trees and others of the mangrove forest, with priority given to indigenous species.
Fifth Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge four percent complete
The brides across the Mekong will link Beung Kan Province in northeastern Thailand to Paksan, Bolikhamxay Province in Laos, Construction of the project began in August 2019 funded by a loan from Thailand’s Economic Cooperation Program and the Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation.
Rare Earths in Myanmar: Unobtanium?
Mining in Kachin State brings up a more fundamental question about the upstream rare earth pipeline. Does the road to a clean energy economy run through murky mines in northern Myanmar?